


Through Every Success And Every Mistake

by Akrximay



Category: Naruto
Genre: Allies to friends to enemies to friends to lovers, Alternate Canon, Blood and Injury, Explicit Sexual Content, Family, Feelings, Fluff, Friendship, Getting Together, Good childhood for Naruto, Happy Ending, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I didnt know how to tag it, Intimacy, Kidnapping, M/M, Monster of a one shot, Not a lot though, One Shot, POV First Person, Slow Build, Smut, That is a mouthful of a tag, Violence, but one shot nonetheless, dad kakashi, gore?, no betas we die like men, slight dom/sub undertones, slightly domestic, so thats what you get
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:33:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28321677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akrximay/pseuds/Akrximay
Summary: The peaceful, normal day off Kakashi was envisioning to read his new book takes a wrong turn when his afternoon starts off with a bang. A surprise visit from an unwelcome person turns into a bigger event than he bargained for and in the end, into one of the best things that could have happened to him.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Itachi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	Through Every Success And Every Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, merry Christmas and happy holidays!  
> This fic is a gift for one of my best friends as she requested it as one of her Christmas/birthday gifts. She always chooses to give me the hardest pairings to work with so here we are. This was MUCH longer than I anticipated and it took a very intimate turn somewhere along the way that I am not fully comfortable with myself. For all you trash monsters out there, I'm sure you'll enjoy it to the fullest. Anyway, enjoy!  
> If you spot any errors or any additional tags I should add, drop a comment or send it to me through tumblr (same name).
> 
> ~May

_It was a deep numbness that even the icy cold rain couldn’t penetrate. I stared at the two graves in front of me with sadness and a feeling of being lost that I hadn’t felt since my father died._

_The sounds of a baby broke the spell and I looked to my left to see Jiraiya-san standing with baby Naruto in his arms, the third Hokage standing next to him. They offered me an umbrella, but it was too much effort to even stand here, let alone hold the damn thing._

_“I want to take care of him more than anything right now, but I can’t,” Jiraiya-san suddenly spoke after a few long seconds of heavy silence. My attention was pulled from the now gurgling baby who was playing with Jiraiya’s hair to look up at the sannin, his face was somber and as stony as the graves he hadn’t pulled his eyes from._

_I saw the third Hokage shift next to him and gave a thoughtful look toward the baby that Jiraiya held, a look that was half sympathy half annoyance crossed his face before he spoke._

_“I will handle the matter,” was all the man said. I knew the third Hokage to be less cruel than some others in the ninja community but for some reason, his words surprised me but only because they didn’t sound reassuring._

_My gaze fell back to the baby that was trying his hardest to reach me with uncoordinated arms, his expression crumbling at my stillness and his inability to reach what he wanted. His wailing was the last detail needed to turn the sad situation into a despairing one and despite my better judgement, I stepped forward to give the baby my finger. He gripped me tightly and tried to pull himself toward me, his crying not stopping in the least. I glanced up at Jiraiya and saw two pairs of impassive eyes staring at me._

_I motioned to take the baby and Jiraiya shifted to making the move from sets of arms easier and the second he was safely, but awkwardly, in my arms, the baby stopped crying. His breaths were hiccupy and his eyes still full of tears, thick tear tracks ran down his face, but despite that, the bright blue eyes that were the exact same as Minato-san’s were locked onto my face. His hand still wrapped tightly around my finger and the unsure smile trying to take over his face were all the things I needed to make my decision._

_“Minato-sensei and Kushina-san were the closest people to parents that I had after losing my father and as the last member of Team Minato, along with the mission given to me to protect Kushina-san and Naruto, I would like to take care of him,” I told both of them._

_Logically the argument was sound, next to Jiraiya I was the one with the most ties to the baby, but it was too much to say to them that this was more than a logical decision. The only thing to keep me together just might be this small being in my arms._

_“As a part of the ANBU, it will be impossible for you to take care of it. I will pay for all the costs and make sure things are taken care of, you do not need to worry yourself about **it** ,” the third Hokage said and I visibly prickled at his tone. Naruto had a name; he was **not** an it._

_“ **Its** name is Naruto and I will be taking care of him or I can resign from the Anbu or retire from being a ninja altogether. I’ve met the requirements and have no problem doing so,” I told the man rather testily. It was a bluff, one that wasn’t very convincing, to begin with, but with my reputation as being ruthless in my actions, the words had weight behind them. The third could not afford me to leave the ninja force now. Everyone knew that Konoha’s reputation relied heavily on my presence._

_The old man sighed in defeat and Jiraiya remained silent as the man gave his assent to the demand but not without clarifying that he’d still be Naruto’s sponsor._

_“Kakashi, you’re only 14. Are you sure you want to do this?” Jiraiya asked after a few beats of silence. I didn’t feel the need to answer him as I wrapped Naruto up in my waterproof jounin jacket and turned to make our way home before dark descended, after all, I needed to ask the Baa-san next door a few things before it got too late._

I woke with a start as I heard the metallic banging of what could only be pots in the kitchen. I turned to my clock to see that it was already 8 in the morning, rubbing my hands down my face to shake the sleep from my form and get up. It was strange that the alarm didn’t go off and for me to sleep this late without it, but I’ll chalk it up to the very bad recollection my dreams decided I needed this morning.

I pushed the door of my room aside and made my way to the kitchen to see Naruto on a stool with a bowl in one hand and mixing whatever the contents inside were with a whisk in the other. I couldn’t help but smile at the kid, amused at the mess he’d already managed to make in the kitchen.

“Good morning Naru,” I told him as I came to hover behind him to see that he was trying to make pancakes. The blond jumped at hearing my voice and tilted his head back to look at me, his hair brushing my bare chest.

“Dad! Good morning,” the preteen greeted, and discreetly tried to shove aside the evidence of what he was doing.

“Are you finally trying to poison your dear old dad Naru? I didn’t think I came home that late from the mission last night. Squirt, don’t kill me!” I teased him as I latched onto him.

He squirmed around calling out embarrassed yells of “Dad!” “Oh my kami, why are you like this?!” and the like as he tried to push me off. I laughed at his expense and lifted him off the stool he was standing on to place him on the floor.

“Go brush your teeth, I already know you haven’t yet,” I told him as I stuck a finger in the batter he was making to see how useable it was. I tried controlling my face to not make him feel bad about the salty-tasting batter as he sulked down the hall telling me there was no way I could know if he’d bushed his teeth or not.

I shook my head at the other and went about washing out the bowl and making a new batter, tidying up the kitchen as I went along and by the time the other was setting the table there was already a couple of pancakes stacked on a plate. I made some scrambled eggs with cheese for extra measure and placed the plate in front of him as I settle in the chair across from him. I rustled his hair and thanked him for the food before digging in and watched as he pouted that I’d ruined his breakfast surprise.

“You better get to eating, just because I have the day off doesn’t mean you do. Your classes start in a bit and you aren’t ready yet,” I told him with a full mouth and a point of my utensil. He groaned again and told me that I nag too much but none the less stuffed his mouth with food faster.

“The faster you can take your tests the faster you can get put on a team Naru,” I told him with a tone that was in between lecturing and advising.

“I don’t want to be put on a team dad, I want you to train me. I’ve told you that a million times,” he told me as he finished his food and dumped the plate in the sink hurrying off to his room to change out of his shorts and shirt and into his ninja garb.

He didn’t let me argue with him over the matter again, just rushed past me with a quick hug, wave, and a “have a good day!” quickly shutting the door behind him. I sighed at his childishness, the same cycle repeating itself. Naruto refused to be trained by anyone other than me and it was his stubbornness that was the issue. Being in the Anbu didn’t allow me to bring along a trainee as the missions are often too dangerous or top secret but Naruto didn’t listen to reason. He didn’t even budge when I told him he wouldn’t get to see his friends that often.

He reasoned that since their parents were friends with me, we’d see them often enough for Naruto not to be lonely. The boy was stubborn and I had no one else but his lineage and myself to blame. I shook my head at the thought and went about cleaning up the dishes and getting ready for a nice, relaxing day reading the new book Jiraiya-san put out not long ago that I hadn’t gotten the chance to read yet.

Well, that had been the plan at least. The day started well and relaxing enough, I’d dropped by Naruto’s school just to make sure he’d made it there on time since he was prone to get distracted along the way. Even in casual clothes, no one detected me outside the window of the classroom and once I’d made sure he was there and not sleeping I went off to find a nice spot in the sun to read.

On my way, I passed some older women in one of the smaller neighborhood markets that were littered around the village, that needed some help. Apparently, one of the pipes in the house broke and was gushing water everywhere, flooding not only the owner’s house but the market stalls on the street, affecting the others as well. I stopped to help them head off the water long enough for a handyman that had been called for to come and fix it.

They ladened me down with fruits and dried meat that they were selling along with other trinkets from their stalls as thanks even though I told them none of it was necessary. I decided to take the food to Asuma in his office so the aides there could have something to eat while they worked and headed over to see the man who’d forced me to take the free day I had today.

The man grouched upon seeing me that he gave me the day off so he wouldn’t see me anywhere near the office. He changed his attitude quickly when he was I’d brought food with me. He took the best cuts of dried meat and fresh fruit before calling in his secretary to distribute the rest among the other offices.

“The Hokage shouldn’t stuff his face during work hours,” I teased him. The man gave me a pointed glare before swallowing his mouthful.

“Not everyone can be mister cool, calm, and collected all the time,” he said as he finished eating half the food and putting away the rest, I assumed to give it to Kurenai later.

“I'm not sure who you’re talking about,” I told him, a small smirk pulling at my lips even though he couldn’t see it.

“Sure you don’t, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you ruffled Kashi, I'm just waiting for the day Naruto tells you he has a girlfriend or something ridiculous,” he laughed as I gave a visibly exaggerated shiver at the thought. Naru was only 13, he didn’t need to be thinking about girlfriends and such. Relationships complicate everything in the long run anyway.

“Just wait until your daughter is born, then you won't be wishing bad on others,” I told him and it was his turn to give a disturbed shiver and shake.

“Please don’t remind me,” he said, hands coming to cover his face at just the thought. I chuckled at his reaction and told the man not to worry.

“I’m not sure how good of a father I’m going to be Kashi! I have no clue how you did this at 14,” he said incredulously and I shook my head again.

“You get used to it, and you’ll be fine. But not if you have so much paperwork, you’ll be drowning in it! So, get to,” I told him making sure to cut off the already longer than intended visit so the man could get back to work.

Heading off on the wind I heard his not-so-enthused response and continued with my plan of finding a sunny and relaxing spot to read the book that seemed to get heavier and heavier with my growing anticipation to read it. It wasn’t long after I settled in the branches of a large tree in a nice and quiet part of the village that all chaos broke loose.

An explosion rocked the village, debris and screams filled the air as a large plume of smoke and dust rose high into the sky. I could see fire quickly spread through the houses and other buildings, several other places going up in flames in the surrounding area as well. I headed to the ANBU headquarters, a small and unassuming building, in an instant as I knew I was faster to arrive than they would be to leave.

They all looked relieved to see me appear, even the commander in charge today as my replacement; I quickly gave out orders. I assigned people to clear the area and help the villagers while others were to put out the fires in teams of three to not be caught unaware of any lingering enemies. The higher ranking ninjas were told to direct the rest of the police forces that were sure to arrive to help by my orders, Yamato was the only on that was to accompany me.

This was not an accident, it was an attack and with the most critical part of stopping the fires and saving the villagers handled, I would be finding out who was responsible for this. Though I was not in ninja garb I still had a few weapons with me and with Yamato following closely there was not much for me to worry about as we headed for the last fire to have been started.

There were likely to be traces of the offenders and the faster we could start tracking the easier it would be to find them. Just as I was about to summon the ninkin I found that it was unnecessary. Our starting place was farther out of the way than the other targets which were all in highly populated parts of the village on the far east side, while this spot was further south, where more unsavory characters congregated. By the time we’d landed there the fire was out and the only traces there had been one was the half-burnt building, the entire street _almost_ deserted.

Yamato crumpled just behind me as there was no time to tell him of the oncoming attack as it had been so fast and the only way to defend him was to face off with the two men in front of me.

“I knew you’d be the one to reach us here captain,” I heard a familiar voice. A voice I didn’t think I would ever hear again.

“This is an unexpected visit Itachi, and you’ve brought your friend I see,” I told the man, ignoring the title, in a conversational tone, though my demeanor was anything but. I was relaxed, hands loosely held by my sides but we both knew I was ready for battle in an instant.

“This is Kisame, we’ve been partnered for a bit now,” he told me. I glanced at the other, having already taken stock of him beforehand and deciding that yes, Itachi was still the bigger threat. Though at a second evaluation I’m not so sure I could handle both of them together while protecting Yamato **and** not causing more damage to the surroundings. I wanted to give an annoyed click of the tongue, if we’d been out of the walls I’d have many more options and an easier time.

“I’d be careful Kisame, you might find your partner disappeared and having stabbed you in the back in the process one day,” I told the strange-looking man.

His face morphed into one of disgruntlement, knowing this conversation was all a farce and, apparently, not liking the lack of fighting one bit. Little did he know this was the most dangerous part of the battle, the man having lost before he was really even a part of it.

“Is that how you saw it? I thought you’d have already found out the truth by now Kakashi-san,” Itachi said in a genuinely sad tone, his brows pulling together in a hurt expression. I stalled a bit as I was not expecting such a genuine reaction from the man. I gave him another once over and was surprised by how much the other had grown.

The last time I’d seen him he was Naruto’s age. It was the day just before he’d killed his family. He was at my house with my boy and we’d had dinner and his expression was so happy. He’d been happy, he’d been-

Just then Kisame launched at me with his sword aimed to slash right through me. Flashing away with a quick shunshin-jutsu, I gained distance from them, snatching Yamato up by the back of his shirt in the process. Kisame turned toward me as Itachi told him he stood no chance against me in a fight. The other didn’t take that very well and started attacking with vigor. It took one lightning-quick attack for the other to back off, bleeding heavily from his side and his breath coming in hard, harsh pants.

“Itachi what are you doing here? What’s the point of attacking the village?” I asked him once I was sure Kisame wasn’t going to attack again. It was then that I sensed Asuma and Kurenai approaching us, though it would take them a bit to get to where we were, plenty of time for Itachi to launch a devastating attack.

“How has Naru been doing Kakashi-san?” he asked instead of answering my question. His tone was a bit off from what it had been before, something not many people could pick up on easily. A full-body chill came over me and panic descended. It took everything I had in me, it took all my years training as a ninja to not turn my back to these men and go find my son.

“You wouldn’t dare,” I claimed in a small voice. He’d heard me perfectly as his face fell into that saddened expression once again. It was then that Asuma and Kurenai were flashing over the building just to the left of us.

“I’m sorry,” was all he said as both Kisame and he disappeared in a swirl of jutsu.

“Kakashi!” Asuma yelled to me as he landed, Kurenai a few steps behind the man.

“Was that-” Kurenai started to ask but I was gone. My heart was pounding as I pushed myself as fast as I could go to get to the ninja school. This area had been left alone, no fires or explosions as the attack had been on the direct opposite side of the village. I’d been drawn to an area as far from here as I could have been. It was such a classic diversion tactic. How could I have been so stupid?

No, they’d been too cunning. They knew exactly who to send that would keep me occupied. There was no way I could have ignored Itachi’s presence the moment I saw him. I practically crashed into the doorframe as I landed from shunshin, the door in pieces. The two instructors were bleeding and unconscious right in the entrance, surely from trying to protect the students from the sudden attack. I didn’t have time to check to see if they were alive as I made my way through the halls as I sensed for any life in the place.

I came to the main classroom quickly and though the room seemed empty I could sense many people, the nervous shifting of their bodies making too much noise to keep them hidden from highly trained ninjas.

“Kids, come out!” I called to them as I pulled the first student from their hiding place.

“Kakashi-san!” the boy I held by the shirt cried out in happiness and relief, it was the youngest Kiba child. At his voice, the others quickly fled their hiding spots and crowded around me a few crying, others in a panic, and one or two trying to stay calm. I scanned the group and my heart dropped as I didn’t see the familiar head of blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

“It’s alright now, everything is fine. I need you to tell me what happened here. Where is Naruto?” I asked in as calm a voice I could. I looked to Shikaku’s boy who was the calmest of the bunch and saw the sadness and guilt creep up into his face.

“We heard the explosion from here, Iruka sensei told us to stay put in the classroom while he checked what was going on. Then the doors here exploded, when we ran out to see what happened there were two guys at the entrance and Daikoku sensei was already hurt. The orange-haired man said that he wanted Naruto and that everyone else would be spared if he was handed over, Iruka sensei got mad and told us all to stay together and hide,” the boy started to explain in a shaky voice.

The others started to sniffle as their tears fell, obviously scared even though they were training to be ninjas. They were still kids and hadn’t been in the Academy but a month.

“It’s alright, what happened then? Who was the other man?” I asked in a calming voice as I rubbed Inoichi’s daughter’s back and smoothed down the Haruno girl’s hair.

“The other man had an orange swirl mask on so we couldn’t see his face, but they came after us once we came to hide. Naru told us not to do anything stupid, even though he’s the stupid one!” The boy said as he became emotional.

“He said he’d go with them if they didn’t hurt any more people, he told us to tell you, he said he’d be fine but, but they-“ the boy bit his lip as it started to tremble. I put a hand on his shoulder and asked him if they hurt Naruto in the gentlest voice I could. He nodded his head vigorously and told me they’d knocked my boy unconscious before disappearing in a swirl of jutsu.

I shut my eyes at the information, trying to stay calm enough to not scare the children more, and stood as I told them they’d done the right thing. There shouldn’t be more injuries, especially to the children of the village. I told them to stay put as no one else was going to be able to hurt them with me here and went to check on Iruka and Daikoku.

Their injuries weren’t grave, though they were bleeding quite a bit and I summoned my ninkin this time. The hounds quickly asking for orders and I sent 3 ahead with messages to Asuma, the medical ninjas at the hospital and another to the ANBU team leads that were taking care of the fires telling them I needed assistance at the school immediately for 2 injured and in need of 3 guards. Bull, Urushi, and Shiba took off quickly to relay the messages while the rest of the hounds were sent to guard the area around the school and go comfort the children. And after administering a quick first aid to the two teachers I sat in the entrance with my head in my hands.

Naruto was gone. Stolen right from under my nose.

What did these people want with Naruto and why was Itachi a part of this? If I wasn’t mistaken, they were the Akatsuki that had been causing problems in other regions, the black and red coats a clear indicator of their identity. Their goals were unclear, but it seemed that their goal of kidnapping Naruto was a success and the only reason to target the boy was obvious. The Kyuubi.

I hadn’t put much stock into the rumors that these Akatsuki people were going around and terrorizing others because Asuma said he’d been in contact with others and was gathering information but it seemed that it wasn’t going to be enough.

Said man, his wife, and the rest of the people I’d requested arrived just then along with Bull Urushi and Shiba.

“Kakashi! What's going on?” Asuma asked as he and Kurenari stopped in front of me. I gave Kurenai a once over to make sure she wasn’t injured since the pregnant woman had been out in a battle zone and told the ninkin to track Naru’s scent and to start making a strategy as I went to prepare the things I needed.

“The Akatsuki took Naruto,” I told them simply as I stalked to the house ready to grab all the necessary supplies.

“The Akatsuki?” Kurenai asked as she came to stand in front of me effectively making me stop in my tracks. Her hands came to my elbows and her soft expression made my heart hurt. I didn’t want sympathy and comfort right now, I wanted my son and I had to go. I had to go now.

“Kakashi, I know you want to go after them, but we need a plan first. We need to know what happened so we can help get Naru back,” Asuma told me as his hand came to rest on my shoulder in a comforting gesture. I took a deep breath and slumped into their hold on me. I didn’t want to believe that I could be so incompetent as to let my son get kidnapped from where he was supposed to be safe. From where I was supposed to be protecting him.

I didn’t want to believe _Itachi_ of all people was capable of doing that to us. Then again, he murdered his entire clan, not leaving a **single** person alive. I didn’t think him capable of doing that either and yet it had happened.

I nodded my consent to them and let them lead me away toward Asuma’s office to give them a full report of what happened. Afterward, I sat slumped in a chair, ANBU mask secured in place, in a large meeting room filled with top shinobi from the village. Hours had passed since the attack and the sun had long since gone to rest as the moon took over its rightful place in the sky.

“We don’t know their goal or purpose for targeting Jinjuriki it's too dangerous to go after them,” Frog, an ANBU captain of another team, said. The man was a veteran warrior and his word was weighed heavily in meetings like this.

“Isn’t that all the more reason to go after them? We don’t know what they’re plotting, it's too dangerous to leave them to their own devices,” Mouse, another captain said. There was some bickering going around of some being partial to wanting to rescue Naruto because he is my son and a part of the village, others arguing that it was better for the village if we didn’t get involved with the Akatsuki, and more argued that it was a disgrace to allow such an attack on the village go without retribution.

This had been going on for the last 10 minutes and it was not helping my son get back in his bed at home any sooner. I stood up slowly and the room immediately descended into a thick and heavy silence, all eyes were focused on me and what I would say or do. Many knew my true identity due to my raising Naruto, others didn’t, but that’s unimportant as either war I was going to get my son.

Asuma stood as well and was going to speak but I spoke first, effectively cutting him off.

“I don’t mean to be rude Hokage-sama but this is leading nowhere. I am going for Naruto, and if I die in the process, that is that. If not, we will leave the village immediately if that is what you decide is a fitting punishment for me but I am going to get my son,” I told him and left the room promptly despite the calls from others to come back.

It didn’t take long at all for me to pack up the supplies I needed and to call for the ninkin again, Pakkun showing up immediately as I flashed through the forest and gave me an update on how far ahead the others were.

“Kakashi,” Urushi called as he and the others stood around a spot on the floor. Pulling to a stop I crouched and picked up Naruto’s goggles from the floor, my fist clenching around the object I’d given him for his birthday last year. I took a deep breath to calm myself, my worry was leading me to become too emotional, and for any mission that was deadly, but especially this one.

“What’s the situation?” I asked them as I knew they’d have already come up with a strategy.

“The track doesn’t end here. It looks like a group of six enemies plus Naruto regrouped here. There were signs of some that arrived here on foot and others whose scents suddenly appear,” Urushi told me, who was the best of the nin hounds at tracking.

“It was likely Itachi and this masked man who appeared suddenly here,” I thought out loud so they could hear the bits of information as well.

“The scents aren’t strong here so they didn’t stay long but they seemed to have split up since the group ahead are just two people and they aren’t the same as Itachi’s or this masked man,” Bull spoke, pulling ahead of the others in the direction that I assumed these other assailants went.

“From what you said it doesn’t look like Naruto was sent with the group who left on foot, that could be wrong since they may have some stealth techniques for hiding just Naruto from tracking, but I don’t think they’d have sent Naru with anyone who was not at least as strong as me,” I told the group of ninja dogs. They all nodded at the words, agreeing that though it may be effective to throw us off their trail, that it was not a likely choice.

“It seems like they knew exactly who they would be contending against if they were to take Naruto away from the village, which is most likely why they sent Itachi to divert your attention in the first place,” Akino mused as she nosed Naruto’s goggles that dangled from my fingers.

“I think the strongest members of their forces that we know of are Itachi and the man with the orange hair that the kid told you about earlier. Their two-man cells are most likely made up of attacker and defenders,” Bull started to say.

“If the orange-haired man was the one attacking the school it is most likely to say that he is the most powerful in that cell,” Bisuke continued.

“Therefore, there two things they would likely do, keep Naruto with the original team from the school,” Uhei told the group, looking at me to fill in the gap.

“Or they hand him off to Itachi,” I came to the obvious conclusion. I moved my fox ANBU mask and hitai-ate out of the way to scrub my hands down the whole length of my face in frustration, my face cover underneath not bothering the action at all.

The most likely thing to have done was to leave Naruto with the cell that took him, but this was a full operation done to avoid conflict, that being clear when they sent Itachi to confront me instead of anyone else. The only surviving Uchiha would know I would have attacked anyone else, the man’s power and our history gave me pause and he knew this. There was absolutely no way Itachi didn’t think I would come after them. He knew I would never abandon Naruto, so what was the thought here? I hadn’t seen the man in four years, I had no clue what he is thinking.

Would Naruto stay quietly with the cell that took him? I didn’t think so, my brat would immediately start fighting when they were safely out of the village which is most likely how he’d lost his goggles. There were no signs of a fight or struggle though, and it may be just as likely that they swiftly knocked the preteen unconscious again as it would be for Itachi to step in. He’d always had a soft spot for the blonde, having had a brother his age and all. A brother that he murdered along with the rest of his family.

I gave a frustrated grunt and crouched to the floor, looking at the small group of footprints that then seem to disappear a few feet away. I had no clue what Itachi would do, nor what this group of people wanted, if I did, if I at least knew they needed Naruto alive and well I could follow all the tracks and feel safe that even if I hadn’t followed the correct one at the first guess that Naru would be alive long enough for me to follow the others. Since this wasn’t the case and I assumed that my first guess **needed** to be the correct one, I was having a hard time.

_“I’m sorry,”_ the words Itachi had spoken came to mind again. His sad expression and his truly remorseful gaze that he’d said those words with reminded me of the boy that I knew. The one that used to come to our house in the evenings for dinner and didn’t want to leave as the sun was setting. It reminded me of the way he’d play with Naruto out in the yard and how he’d sometimes shown that same expression when he had to cut down an enemy who just couldn’t listen to reason. It reminded me that Itachi Uchiha did have a kind heart somewhere behind all the traps he’s laid.

I stood up again with a plan of action to follow and ordered the ninkin to take up the hunt. Itachi’s ability to travel has to be connected to his Sharingan and if that is the case, they shouldn’t be able to go very long distances without him needing to regroup. It’ll be hard to track very well but with the whole lot of us, we should be able to pick up traces of their scent and presence.

…

I knew the tracking and getting Naru back would be hard, but this was one of the hardest things I’d done. It had been days and though we were closing in, Itachi was very good at hiding his presence and any traces of himself and Naruto, especially after he’d split up with his cellmate Kisame.

The shark man himself confirmed that Itachi was now traveling alone with Naruto when he came to confront me. He didn’t know very much information about the grand plan that he participated in, but I made sure to extract as much information as I could before ending the man’s suffering. He was stubborn so he was in **much** pain before I put him out of his misery.

“So, this Tobi is the ringleader and for some reason, he is gathering up the Jinjuriki,” Pakkun struck up a conversation after he’d finished his claimed portion of Kisame’s body.

The other ninkin were in a loose circle around the small fire close to the river that I’d made for the night, still munching away at their prizes of an array of arms and legs, ribs, and entrails. Their ears perked up as Pakkun watched me with interest as I was cleaning and sharpening the tools I’d used over the last couple of hours to get the information I needed. I put down the blade in my hand, which happened to be the last one needing to be tended to, and dipped the cloth I’d been using and my hands in the river right next to me. I watched as the dark waters snaked with even darker tendrils down the river and the red from my hands slowly be washed away.

“Whatever his reason for gathering the Jinjuriki is doesn’t matter, for now, it seems that they want them alive and if that’s the case then we have a time for a counter-attack,” I told the hounds over the harsh snap and crunching of bones that were loud in the otherwise quiet night.

“Are you saying you want to wipe out these Akatsuki?” Pakkun asked me. I tilted my head up from the river to watch them all with an expression I couldn’t ever recall myself making. Apparently, it spoke more than words ever could, and some excited yips and furiously wagging tails broke out through the group. By their looks, they were ready for more blood and I couldn’t help the grin that pulled at my lips at remembering that though they looked like pets, these hounds were bloodthirsty and their favorite game was tearing enemies apart limb by limb.

“They are going to pay for threatening my son,” was all I told them and went back to my task of cleaning the cloth as their excited barks and growls continued.

“Do you have a plan?” Pakkun asked, ever the rational one of the group. Though the others are highly intelligent and skilled, Pakkun’s ability to stay calm and create a plan was leagues above any ninkin I’d ever seen.

“Well, I don’t think we’re the only ones wanting revenge. Why don’t we get a little more help, since these Akatsuki seem to love helping amongst themselves? From what Kisame said there are only 11 more apart from him and they're all ninja I’ve heard much about and though they are not short on enemies, we need strong, and discreet ninja for this,” I told Pakkun and I could see him tilting his head in thought.

“You’re sending for reinforcements, from the village?” he asked before shaking his head

“No, if the village was sending help, they’d have caught up to us by now. From people that have the most grudge against the Akatsuki right now. From people like us,” he said as the realization was dawning on him.

“Family of the Jinjurikis?” Guroku asked, his floppy ears moving up as he moved his attention from cleaning his paws to engaging in the conversation.

“I need you all to go to them,” I told them as I summoned a scroll that I’d created when I’d taken Naruto in.

The hounds, all finished with their meal and having left no trace of the body behind, gathered around the scroll to see what It held. The names and villages of all the current Jinjuriki and their closest friends and allies were listed in the scroll, something no one besides the Akatsuki probably had in the world. It was hard to find all this information with how closely guarded the Hidden Villages keep information about their Jinjuriki but I’d personally gone to meet each and every one of them, something that took two full years to accomplish with Naruto in tow at the age of 4.

“Go to them, tell them the situation and that we are putting an end to this. Our families will not be put through this again,” I told them with conviction and I gave each of them an emblem I conjured with justsu. It was something that each other the people the ninkin were going to meet would recognize to confirm the information they were receiving.

“Pakkun you will go find Jiraiya and in the meantime, I will track down Itachi and find out where the Akatsuki are keeping the rest of the Jinjuriki. Once you bring Jiraiya to me I will send you off to tell the others of the meeting place,” I told him looking directly at the other, knowing the task was greater than the ones of the other hounds. He nodded but voiced his concern about how I was going to defeat Itachi.

“I will manage somehow, now go we don’t have much time,” I told them all and they nodded, leaving in quick succession in various directions, some leaving in twos as some Jinjuriki came from the same village.

Left alone in the night with only the fire crackling in the background I steeled myself to getting to the bottom of this whole thing and putting an end to it. My son was supposed to grow up with a normal life. He chose to be a ninja of his own volition, he grew up in a house where he was loved, he had many friends who were loyal and good to him, he had people around him that care. He was not supposed to go through these hardships as a boy, it was the reason I’d shouldered all the burdens that were supposed to be his. It was the reason I worked as hard as I did. These people will pay for disrupting his peace, **our** peace. Donning my fox mask, I put out the fire and continued on my way as I had ground to cover.

…

I found myself with Jiraiya, and pleasantly Tsunade-san as well within a couple of days, the pair having stopped everything they were doing the moment they’d heard Naruto was in danger. I accepted the quick embrace he gave me as we met up for the first time in two years. The married couple had been a constant figure in Naruto’s life and I was very grateful that Jiraiya hadn’t forgotten about his godson and that lady Tsunade loved the boy just as much as if he were her own.

“You’re looking rough Kakashi,” he told me after pushing me to arm’s length, his hands not releasing their hold on my shoulders.

“I still have my mask on, how would you know Jiraiya-san?” I asked the man with only a fraction of the amusement as I normally would have.

“Because you smell,” he grinned at me and laughed when an offended noise left me.

Though I hated how easy going he was in this situation, but I was also grateful for it. It was as though he was saying with his positive attitude that this was going to be a cakewalk and that Naruto would be back at home in his bed and missing his alarm for school like usual, very soon.

“Move out of the way you big lug. Kakashi, I'm so sorry this happened,” Tsunade said as she pushed her husband out of the way to also wrap me in a hug. I gave the woman a tighter squeeze than was probably called for but having her around over the years she’d grown into someone important in my life and it meant a lot that she’d also come as it wasn’t often that the two travelled together.

“So what’s the situation?” Jiraiya asked, his expression turning serious as he looked away from the pair of us and down at the makeshift table and scrolls laid open on it. I’d arrived about two days ago at what seemed to be the main hideout or base for the Akatsuki and had been gathering as much information about the area as I could.

At the moment, I have holed up in a place outside of the range I knew Itachi could sense and travel. I hadn’t found any evidence of surveillance from the group as it seemed they were too busy preparing for something. By the looks of it, they were waiting on group members as over the last couple of days 4 people arrived and no one had left the base.

With any luck, they would wait for all the members to gather and that would give enough time for the ninkin and shinobi to gather since Kisame would no longer be able to rejoin his group.

“These are rough sketches of the area and all the entrances that I’ve seen to their base,” I told the sannin as we all leaned over and I pointed out our location, their base, and the aforementioned entrances.

“These should be enough to make a plan. Do you know how many are inside or where they have the hostages?” he asked as he started marking possible vantage points and places to pin down the enemy discussing different tactics with Tsunade.

“So far, I can confirm that Orochimaru, Sasori, Hidan, and Deidara are present. I tracked Itachi and Naruto here so I’m going to assume he and the other two that attacked the village are also here. From the information I got I think them to be Pein and Tobi and from what I was told White and Black Zetsu don’t leave the base. There are still 2 unaccounted for and should be arriving soon,” I filled them in as they took into account the enemies. His brow scrunched and he lifted his eyes to look at me in confusion.

“One of them won’t be showing his face ever again and should be enough to buy us time for everyone to gather,” I told him, knowing he was wondering about the discrepancy in the confirmed number of Akatsuki and the ones I was reporting to him. The question of where I got my information should have been crystal clear to him now.

“It's good to know that there is one less enemy to worry about,” a soft voice called out to us. We turned to see a tall, beautiful red-haired woman along with two men standing just a bit away from the entrance of my small hideout. Uhei came trotting up to me and I gave him a soft pet before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

“Does that mean Kisame was the one that was killed? Stupid bastard couldn’t even put up a good fight in the end,” another voice called out, another group of three landed just behind the first.

“Mei, Zabuza nice to see the both of you again, though I never thought I’d see the day when it would be at the same time and place,” I told them both. Pulling the fox mask that I’d moved to rest on my head completely off and moved to greet them.

“I didn’t think I would see the day your sorry ass needed our help,” Zabuza said in a rather mean tone which earned him a punch from the young white-haired man beside him.

“Zabu-san we need his help too so we can rescue Yagura-sama,” the boy reminded the other and a smile pulled on my lips as Zabuza griped that yes it was true and that the details weren’t important.

“Nice to meet you Kakashi Hatake-san, Jiraiya-san, Tsunade-san it’s an honor. I’m Suigetsu Hōzuki and this is Haku Yuki. We’re here to help,” the polite man said and I nodded to him in greeting. I’d meet Haku on my trip to find information on the Jinjuriki but he was just a small thing then while Zabuza being fiercely protective of him. Now he was older and seemed to be trusted enough to be of help rescuing their Mizukage.

“Nice to meet you as well. Thank you for coming so quickly,” I told them all as a group, looking at Mei and her husband Ao. They introduced the boy with them as Chojuro, a retainer for Mei as she was to be the next Mizukage once her uncle stepped down from the position.

“Thank you for tracking these people down for us, we’ve been worried sick about my uncle and Utakata. There will be a high price to pay for taking them from us,” Mei said with a conviction in her voice that was rare among the female ninja in the world.

“I agree wholeheartedly,” Jiraiya said as he welcomed them into the small space, and I began to fill the group as a whole in. Reinforcements were arriving and the only thing to do was wait for everyone else.

Waiting was hard though, but harder than even tracking Itachi had been and I could not fathom how all of these people had waited so long, not knowing what had become of their loved one. Our group grew by the day, the ninkin swift with their message, and as the suns of many days set the different groups would tell me when and how their Jinjuriki’s were stolen from their homes.

I wondered how so many powerful ninjas could go missing and the rest of the ninja world did not know about it but that fact brought to light a glaring issue that caused this predicament in the first place. The ninja world has been divided since the Third Great Ninja War and this prevented an information flow. Maybe if the world was a different way, when the first Jinjuriki had been kidnapped the rest of the villages would have been notified and this could have been dealt with much sooner.

“It is truly sad how we have to live divided. I don’t know what the Akatsuki want, but if I had to take a guess, I would say it would be to change the way this world is,” I mused. Everyone around me was silent as they looked at my form as we all sat over a fire and ate our rations. I looked up to see them all watching me with a variety of mixed reactions.

“I just meant that if things were different this probably would have never happened to the people we care about. If they were different my 13-year-old son wouldn’t be scared and going through who-knows-what at the hands of these people,” I reiterated.

“That’s the most I’ve heard you talk,” Zabuza said and the other shinobi all nodded in agreement.

“Oh, I have a lot to say it just isn’t to you all right now,” I said, not to be rude, but to bring the attention back to the situation at hand. The Akatsuki were the ones that needed to hear some things and as soon as the last member, Konan, arrived they would be on the receiving end. The rest of that night was quiet as I watched the moon climb higher in the sky as I took the first guard, everyone else getting some sleep.

…

It was the explosion that shook the whole area that had everyone shooting to their feet. I’d been napping to get some rest as I tended to be the one on guard at night when the boom and shaking of the ground erupted suddenly. Our eyes were drawn to the base we’d been hovering the last few days and saw fire and debris being kicked up everywhere. The attack on the village that happened what seemed like so long ago flashed in my mind and I immediately took off in that direction.

The more veteran shinobi in the group were right on my heels with the others trailing behind us in the direction of the base. We’d been waiting for nightfall to execute our plan after Konan arrived early in the morning at the base but something was going horribly wrong.

“What’s the new plan? The old one’s gone to shit!” the fourth Raikage, A, called out from my left. They all looked to me as I was the one most specialized in these sorts of operations and situations even though most of them were my elders and betters.

“Still the same, invade the space, separate the Akatsuki and take them out one by one. Once the threat is gone we can look for the Jinjuriki, I doubt they'd be killed so easily even in the chaos,” I told them, and though with some reluctance they agreed.

I quickly changed my mind and summoned the ninkin and sent them off in search of the Jinjuriki with orders to retreat if they were to be killed and they were off fast into the plume of dirt and smoke in front of the entrance of the once hidden base. It was disorienting with the intended or unintended smoke screen but with the Sharingan I was able to find who I was looking for quickly, losing track of the other shinobi as we spread out in search of our targets.

Itachi was facing off with Pein which seemed to be the cause of the explosion and fire, the devastation around the two was huge. Naruto was pushed against the wall of the once dome-shaped cave by a clone that seemed to be protecting him. I saw the flashes of the nin hounds within the smoke as they seemed to be leading people out. So, the other Jinjuriki were safe. A small sigh of relief left me knowing others were being saved even as the fierce sounds of battles were going on all around me. Even though Naruto wasn’t safe yet, he was alive and seemed lively as he was yelling out at the two fighters.

As much as I wanted to go and save the boy right then and there, as much as I wanted to grab him and tell him that dad was always going to keep him safe, the two very powerful ninjas were in the way and I doubted I was going to be able to sneak my way past both of them. I also couldn’t fight off both of them, especially as I saw 5 more versions of Pein appear for the battle.

Normally it would be difficult for me to fight either of them, two fights I didn’t know I could win, to be honest, and though they looked to be fighting now if they were to find out about my presence and decide to deal with me first, there would be no chance of survival for either Naruto or me. The best course of action would be to let them finish their fight or deescalate the situation if that’s what they were going to do.

That way Jiraiya-san and I could go about the plan of separating the two ninjas and beginning our battles. The best-case scenario would be that these two killed each other and I could swoop in to save Naruto and then head off to assist in any other battles that were still going on.

Quickly the 6 Peins attacked Itachi, the man dancing away from their attacks as though they were choreographed and easily set one of them on fire. The eternal blaze not extinguishing until there was nothing left of the body. The remaining Pein proceeded with more caution and the battle was one that seemed to go on forever but was over before I knew it.

Itachi was bleeding from some wounds on his body, his breathing a bit labored but otherwise, the man seemed unruffled even with his continual use of the Mangeko Sharingan and Susanoo. The original Pein was the last one standing, his robe in tatters and it was obvious who would win the battle. In a split second Itachi sent out a swarm of ravens in the form of genjutsu, the other man trying to avoid the exploding birds and though he dodged the dangerous corvid it was too much to dance away from them and avoid Itachi’s oncoming attack. The only remaining Uchiha engulfed Pein’s face with just one hand, the men locking eyes as Pein knew that it was the end.

Two of the ravens zoomed past Itachi’s head and burrowed their way into Pein’s eyes, the birds disappearing and the shock in Pein’s face was unmistakable.

“How did you-?” the defeated ninja struggled to ask before his body convulsed and crumpled to the ground in an unmoving heap.

Itachi heaved a sigh of relief as he released his jutsu, his eyes reverting to their normal Sharingan as he turned and looked to where his clone had taken Naruto a safe distance from the battle. I was sure there was no foul play with jutsu so I was suspicious of why Itachi would let his defenses get low. It was a classic tactic that I was about to execute, but maybe his time away from actual missions have dulled his senses.

As Itachi dismissed his clone, he reached his hand out for Naruto to take as my boy was huddled close to the trunk of a tree to keep himself from the danger of the now finished battle. With the fastest shunshin I could muster I brandished my favorite short sword and appeared behind the other, ready to eliminate the Uchiha clan from the shinobi world forever.

“Dad no!” Naruto cried out and lunged at Itachi as I was going to run the blade straight through the dangerous ninja. My heart stopped as I saw Naruto wrapped around Itachi’s waist, the Uchiha trying to detach the other from himself as he was turning to fend off the attack. I twisted the sword around as quickly as I could to avoid the pair, my wrist bending awkwardly with the abrupt force of stopping my attack.

There was a snap and the pain went zinging up my arm, the blade slicing into my arm at the same time. The sword clattered to the floor as I stumbled back, trying not to ram into them and holding my bleeding arm, Naruto’s name coming out of my mouth without thought.

“Dad!” the blonde cried out at seeing the blood, rushing to me he grabbed onto my shirt for dear life. He was shaking as he looked up at my face and back down to my arm with tears starting to well in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Dad, are you okay? Dad!” I heard Naruto and the tremor in his voice. He waved his hands around not knowing what to do, snatching up my sword from the floor as he continued to ask if I was alright, clutching the sharp blade carefully to his chest while he tried to get a response from me. I grabbed him close to me with my other arm and eyed Itachi suspiciously, ready for him to make a move ignoring Naruto for now.

“Kakashi-san,” Itachi called in a soft voice, taking a step closer to us. I immediately took a step back, turning my body to shield Naruto from the man just a slight bit. I couldn’t move my right hand at all, my wrist already was starting to swell and the smallest twitch resulted in pain, and the gash down my arm was bleeding heavily. I couldn’t use any jutsu but if Itachi came at us I could at least use the Sharingan to get Naruto to a safe spot, then I’d only have the disadvantage of my wounds and not trying to protect my boy. Or I could stall for reinforcements to come, Jiraiya-san and Tsunade-san couldn’t have been far off.

Itachi stopped at my defensive movement and his eyes looked sad once again, his outstretched hand coming to settle at his side. He eyed us from just a few feet away and my nervousness was growing. I knew I could fight this man and I had a good chance of winning too right now, even injured, but with Naruto, in my arms, I couldn’t risk taking Itachi on, the problem was I couldn’t leave him be either. I couldn’t just take Naruto and flee, not that I imagined Itachi would allow that, but the other would remain a threat to my boy and that was not something I was willing to gamble on.

“Itachi, please help! Dad’s hurt, oh no, but you’re hurt too!” Naruto turned to the man and frantically worried over him and pulled out of my grasp to latch onto the Uchiha, the blade in his hand sticking into the soil, forgotten.

I grabbed the boy’s arm harshly and tried to yank him back before he reached the other but the brat was fast and had already grabbed onto the other’s clothes, not letting go when I pulled him close to me once again. That sandwiched the three of us together and again my heart stopped, but this time it was in my throat as the only thing keeping Itachi and me separated was Naruto’s body holding us together.

“Dad please trust him. It’s Itachi, Itachi is always on our side,” I took my eyes off of the deep red ones that mirrored my own and gazed down at Naruto incredulously. The impossibly blue eyes stared up at me with such conviction and support that I was left speechless.

“Please believe it,” the blonde begged, his lip trembling and tears beginning to spill down his face. I felt my eyes fade in and out of focus, the blood loss probably already affecting me since it was really gushing out of my arm, and I felt a strong grip grab onto my opposite elbow. Lifting my head from where I was staring down blankly at Naruto, I focused on Itachi the man giving me a small, pleading smile begging me without words to also believe Naruto’s words.

If Itachi wanted to take Naruto and kill me he’d have done so already I reasoned with myself, warring with the trained ninja within me. Itachi was an enemy that not only kidnapped Naruto, but was blacklisted by the village for his atrocious crimes, but then again Itachi was a good kid who always helped with the dishes and would swing Naruto above his head when they played.

I trusted my instincts before to follow Itachi because for some reason I still believed in the man. I don’t know if it was my mind playing tricks on me but the sense that he was not trying to hurt Naruto or me or anyone for that matter kept bugging me. The way he’d been looking at me since the time I set eyes on him back at the village was telling a story very different from the narrative I knew. The way he was _still_ looking at me was making my head swim with confusion, more than the blood loss was already causing. It was what I would blame the small, consenting nod I gave him on.

“Naru, stay close,” Itachi told the blonde. The black-haired man smoothly picked up my short sword and slid it back into its sheath that was secured sideways to my waist. He then pulled me lightly by the grip he had on my elbow and made sure Naruto was holding onto him. In a disorienting swirl of jutsu, we entered a different realm that was void of anything but space. The white floors seemed to go on forever, almost like a sea whose end doesn’t seem to ever be in sight.

“Whoa,” I heard Naruto’s quiet exclamation of awe and couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at my lips. The sound of splattering brought the reality and pain back to my mind and the dizziness hit me as I looked down at my arm to take in the damage.

My wrist was swollen and there was already an ugly purplish hue to the bottom part of my hand and end of my forearm. The inside of my arm wasn’t fortunate, the bulk of the muscle was hanging on to my body from a sliver of my skin, the fat and bone visible through the mess of blood and flesh. The red liquid was nonstopping as it flowed freely from my veins like a river, splashing, and pooling on the floor, the stark white surface we were standing on becoming stained a dark crimson.

I sat on the floor, with a lot less grace and finesse than I usually would, my legs long in front of me as I brought my arm in between them to cradle it. I had to stop the bleeding before I could do anything else and while I could still think straight. I knew that was going to be a lot shorter time than I thought as everything started to blur at the corners of my vision and mind. I didn’t bring any medical supplies thinking I either one, wouldn’t get out alive or two, would not have been in such dire straits to need it, and more recently third, thought Tsunade-san would handle it. Though hindsight is always clearer.

I felt a brush of air past my face and looked up to see Itachi kneeling between my feet, the black and red Akatsuki rob hanging from his hands as he was ripping it into strips.

“Naru, I need your help. Kakashi,” Itachi called my name to get my attention and I saw him holding out a piece of cloth.

Only a lifetime of training had me grabbing the cloth and moved to tie it around my arm, just above my elbow, to stop the blood. I yanked my hitai-ate off with too much strength and jerky movements, inserting the metal long ways in the mess of cloth, turning it like a crank to tighten the makeshift tourniquet. I grit my teeth as I was **really** starting to feel the pain now. The rush of nervousness and excitement was leaving my body and now the throbbing of my wrist and the shooting pain was taking over my brain. Naruto was safe and I’d let my guard down with that knowledge. I felt my head lull with the weight of it and I snapped my eyes back open, not knowing when I’d shut them.

I heard a soft, calm, and deep voice speaking but couldn’t make out the words; prying my eyes open was hard but when I did my heart skipped a beat as I didn’t see Naruto anywhere. I grabbed Itachi’s shoulder as hard as I could and the man stopped his movements as he was piling and pressing the remaining cloth to my wound. I didn’t even feel it anymore in my rush of panic.

“What did you do?” I asked him with the most powerful glare I could manage and he shushed me. That only made me angry and I was frustrated that I couldn’t even take care of this myself and even more angry that I’d allowed it to happen. I should’ve run him through when I could. Naruto should have run away instead of protecting Itachi. Why trust his kidnapper? My head swam and I fought to stay focused on the man in front of me, needing to know what happened to Naruto.

“I sent him to get help. There is nothing I can do besides try to stop the bleeding and he was shaking too much to be of any help here,” Itachi explained as he returned to applying pressure onto my arm.

“You sent-” I had to stop to draw in air. My breathing was getting too shallow and filling my lungs up was a task of itself let alone arguing with the man.

“You sent my son…into a battlefield?” I exclaimed to him. Mad. And hurt. I was mad and hurt and scared for Naruto who I’d just gotten back.

“I sent him with a raven of mine, nothing will happen to him,” Itachi reassured as he pushed on my shoulder to have me lay down. My panic subsided a bit and I didn’t fight against the man too much. For now, he seemed to be on our side; he was helping me and protecting Naruto, at least for now I would trust him. In reality, it was all I could do, I had no other choice.

I felt pathetic as I hadn’t even fought in any battles and still managed to injure myself to this extent. If this were ever to get out, my reputation would be shattered. A small snort of amusement left me at the thought, I didn’t care for such things but it was funny how only a blue-eyed blond could reduce me to this. I shut my eyes and grit my teeth against the pain, my breathing was deafening in my ear.

“Kakashi! What is this?” I heard a voice suddenly break the silence and managed to open my eyes again.

Tsunade was trying to push Naruto behind her as he seemed to be yelling in my direction, the look on her face was terrifying. Naruto leaped in front of her, drawing her attention to himself as he waved his arms frantically toward me. Shutting my eyes again I relaxed fully at seeing the energetic brat and Tsunade nearby.

…

I struggled to open my eyes as I was slowly coming back into consciousness. I felt a gentle touch running through my hair and I knew that it was Naruto, the brat having the habit of playing with my hair. Lifting my hand I grabbed onto the boy’s wrist to stop the motion as I felt the onslaught of a splitting headache seconds after opening my eyes, the only thing filling my vision was the blond’s face.

“Morning dad,” Naru’s too loud voice sounded through the air and I could hear movement all around come to a halt. I squeezed his wrist at the knowledge that we were the center of attention and I didn’t know if we were surrounded by friends or foes. I wasn’t dead and Naruto didn’t sound or looked scared so that should have been a good sign. My memories of Tsunade being nearby helped me relax a bit as I released Naruto’s wrist and started to sit up.

“There’s the sleeping beauty,” I heard a teasing voice call as it approached. Blinking away the pain to the back of my mind I was finally able to focus and make out my surroundings. Jiraiya-san crouched in front of the pair of us, ruffling Naruto’s hair and giving the other a wide grin as he tried to shake off the elder’s hand from his head.

“Hello Jiraiya-san,” I greeted the other as I looked around. Darkness had descended and it seemed like the others were safe, Tsunade tending to some of those still injured but she still waved happily as she saw my eyes land on her. There was a large bonfire going on in the middle of the small encampment and some of the members of the group went back to what they were doing after sending me a quick wave or nod.

Eyeing them I saw they were stacking the bodies of the Akatsuki, making sure they were all accounted for before, I assumed, they threw them into the fire. Remembering suddenly I stood quickly, looking around. I swayed a bit as I got dizzy all the blood rushing from my head in that instant.

“Whoa, relax. He’s over there,” Jiraiya said after steadying me with a hand to the shoulder. I followed where he was pointing and saw the Raikage along with his brother, the Eight-tails Jinjuriki, and the fourth Mizukage and entourage sitting in a tight formation around Itachi.

The Uchiha’s hands were bound in a very creative set of cuffs that kept them from touching and robbed him of the ability to move his fingers. In addition to that, the man was blindfolded making it impossible to use the Sharingan to target anyone. A surge of relief washed through me and I didn’t quite know the source of it.

“Naruto pleaded for us not to do anything to him,” Tsunade said from her place across the fire, bringing everyone’s attention to our conversation. Jiraiya-san wasn’t very discreet so it was no surprise that people wanted to comment.

“He was in your unit before he left the village and he is the one that attacked your son. We all decided we’d leave what we do to him up to you,” Jiraiya said as I saw various nods in agreement to the statement.

Naruto grabbed my arm and I looked down at the other, pulling him into a hug at knowing this whole ordeal was over. That got an embarrassed whine out of the preteen and many chuckles and teasing remarks in the boy’s direction from the other Jinjuriki.

“You aren’t so tough around your dad Naru,” Killer B told the other with a laugh. The remark got him a few choice yells from Naruto, but the boy didn’t pull away from my embrace.

“Kakashi Hatake, thank you for organizing our rescue,” the fourth Mizukage said with a small bow of his head, the other 7 Jinjuriki following his suit and bowed deeply. I didn’t quite know what to tell them as their rescue was just a by-product of me coming for Naruto. I told them as much and that they didn’t need to thank me.

“No, I do think thanks are in need. Because of these unforeseen circumstances, we as a group were forced together. The Akatsuki wanted to bring about the end of the world and were going to kill us to do so. Though Naruto was only with us for a short time, he gave us who had given up hope already a reason to hope again,” the Mizukage continued with an uncharacteristic smile from the usually serious man.

“He defended us from the more _abusive_ members of the Akatsuki,” Utakata the six-tails Jinjuriki admitted with a smile and Naruto hid his face in my side. I chuckled at the boy but had to wonder how Naruto wasn’t hurt if that were true.

“Itachi-san said he would immediately kill anyone who touched Naruto, that it was something he was going to do himself. The rest of the Akatsuki didn’t dare touch us after that,” a boy about Naruto’s age said not taking his intelligent eyes from me. I must have had the thought more plastered to my face than I thought, or the boy was impressively sharp. He sat leaning on a nearby tree, relaxed with his siblings flanking the serious teen. He looked a bit softer now than the last time I’d seen him. The other gave me a small bow with an even smaller smile and turned in Itachi’s direction.

It pulled my eyes to also look in the man’s direction. The other sat impassive and fairly relaxed for the position he was in, though that could be said about the guards posted around him. The Jinjuriki especially looked at ease around the other, Killer B even trying to get the other to engage in conversation with him, the others, though a bit more on guard around the notorious Uchiha, were not as ruthless as I would imagine.

I didn’t understand. He kidnapped Naruto, he was going to kill Naruto but he protected him. He was supposed to kill me but he saved me. He was supposed to be bloodthirsty and merciless and coldblooded but his eyes were soft. It didn’t make sense, _he_ didn’t make sense. None of it did.

“For raising such a wonderful future ninja and for saving our lives we can never thank you enough,” Yugito Nii, the two tails Jinjuriki said, bringing my attention back to the conversation that we were in the middle of. She gave another bow to me formally, the others following.

Naruto groaned loudly and gripped onto me in a way that told me he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. I laughed at the boy’s expense and looked toward the pile of bodies as Zabuza and a few others started throwing them into the flames. All the Akatsuki were accounted for, not one had escaped and I was grateful that we had this many powerful ninjas come together to take care of the threat.

I turned to look at Itachi again and didn’t like the sinking feeling I got when the thought of him joining that pile of bodies flashed through my mind. I remembered a time where we were always together on missions and how though he was 9 years my younger, that the conversations we had were always so much more engaging than with anyone else.

I sighed and sat back down, Naruto grabbing me a plate of whatever food everyone had managed to come up with. It was a chaotic mess of pieces of rations but it amused me to know that everyone had to share to make this kind of a mess. I ate in silence just listening to everyone else’s conversations as their attention finally drifted away from me. Naruto eventually went to play around with the One-tailed beast Junjuriki, the young redhead from earlier whose name I remembered was Garra. The blond-haired boy got a kick every time Garra used his sand and I could tell that his siblings were shocked that their serious counterpart had made a decidedly annoying friend.

I couldn’t help myself from glancing over again at where Itachi was being guarded and after a while of just relaxing, I decided it was time for **me** to say my thanks. I snaked my way over, bypassing the fast friends being made over drinks, the conversations loud and full of storytelling and laughter. Where the alcohol came from I’d never know but I didn’t put it past any of the ninjas here from using a jutsu to conjure it up.

First, I made my way to the loud group of ladies that were among the drunkest and managed to thank Tsunade for helping me without too much hazing. The happy group threw flirty comments my way and I couldn’t help myself from engaging in a bit of wordplay with them. After a bit, I managed to escape the exuberant group and made my way over to where the two most serious men were sitting in silence as their interesting groups of people bickered and bantered amongst themselves seeming to have given up on trying to get the Uchiha to interact with them.

Both Kage acknowledged me as I approached and told them and their group that they could go relax for a while and that I would guard the man. At the raised eyebrows that were directed at me, I just wiggled the fingers from my healed wrist and bandaged arm. I mentally thanked Tsunade again for the medical miracles she always performs. Though a bit wary, both the leaders were pulled away by their excitable friends and I was left alone with the Uchiha.

I sat down and explained to him that I couldn’t remove any of his bindings as a precaution. When he replied that he had expected no less from me I relaxed a bit more against the tree trunk we were leaning on.

“I don’t know what the point of all of this was, but thank you for helping Naruto and me,” I told him honestly. It was unusual for me to be so open about receiving help and so honest, but Itachi had always been an exception to that since he’d reminded me so much of myself. We always understood what the other was like and it showed in the way he didn’t respond and the ease I felt with the silence.

“I am taking you back to the village so you can pay for what you did. It’s what’s best,” I told him after a comfortable silence. Again, he didn’t respond but I felt him relax a bit more. I went about summoning an emergency book that I always kept on reserve for moments like this and settled comfortably to read, half a mind staying alert to if Itachi made any sudden movements. I was startled from the words of my book a while later when I felt a weight lean on me a while later.

I couldn’t help but remember the days where this was common, the days where our team was split into two-man cells and it was my turn to take the first guard. The other would lean on me just like this to sleep and though he was much smaller back then a wave of nostalgia crashed over me, followed by one of sadness. Itachi was a dead man walking now and memories I tried to lock away a long time ago were beginning to resurface, only to cause pain.

Shaking away my thoughts I turned my attention to check on where I’d last seen Naruto. The other was fast asleep, his friend watching over the other even though most of everyone else was already either asleep or passed out drunk. The red-haired boy looked at Naruto with a fondness that I recall seeing in the young schoolgirls at the Academy. I chuckled and figured my boy’s problems were not over by a long shot. With a shake of my head, I returned to my book and tried to ignore the tug of thoughts that tried to mention the warm weight pressed to my side.

It was a bittersweet departure as friends had been made and though the original purpose of this gathering of people had been fulfilled, the situation served another purpose no one had foreseen. I watched as a promise between the Raikage and Mizukage was made to reconvene with the other Kage soon to fix the brokenness of our nations.

It was funny how the people that were most hated and scorned in the world for something out of their control, were the reason said world was going to start mending its wounds.

Naruto parted with all the Jinjuriki with promises that he would visit and they should visit the Hidden Leaf village. I laughed as the blond fluttered between groups of people to say his goodbyes and hugs and held back tears. The worst was when he had to say goodbye to Garaa, not even his goodbye with Jiraiya-san and Tsunade-san caused the other so many tears and hiccuped words.

Various people came to give their goodbyes to me and asked if I wanted them to accompany me in escorting Itachi back to the village. After a while, I convinced everyone that I could handle the situation and the three of us were off. The trip back would take at least a week as we couldn’t use shunshin due to Itachi’s blindfold and much of the travel was filled with silence. Well from myself anyway.

Naruto was sticking close to Itachi much to my chagrin, though Itachi was secured fairly well I was still uncomfortable about the two chatting away, catching up as though nothing was wrong. The two picked up right back where they’d left off four years ago.

To be exact, I was most uncomfortable with how at ease I was with that fact. Itachi had fit into our small family like a missing piece when he still lived in the village. I recalled when he’d told me he loved being at our house, even more so than his own, and I could never forget the look on his face when I told him he was welcome any time because he had a home in our house as well. It was eerie just how well we’d slipped back into that dynamic.

“Dad! This is taking forever,” Naruto whine not for the first time in our trek home. The brat didn’t have patience, it's only been two days.

“Naru I already told you that complaining about it isn’t going to make things go any faster,” I recited the line I’ve said more times than I cared to remember.

“It would if you took off Itachi’s blindfold,” he mumbled as he kicked a stone in his path, face aimed to the floor. I stopped in my tracks and knelt in front of him, grabbing ahold of his shoulders and prompting him to look me in the face.

“Did he tell you to say that?” I asked the other seriously. He _really_ looked his age when his eyes got all big and his lip started to tremble. He shook his head, obviously not trusting his voice and I glared up at the other man that stood just behind Naruto even though he couldn’t see the action.

“Itachi isn’t dangerous, dad! He saved me, he’s good! You’re taking him back and they’re going to kill him for nothing!” Naruto yelled, tears falling down his face. I made to pull him closer and soothe him but he pulled away from me completely and buried his face into Itachi’s stomach, his arms coming to wrap around the other man tightly. Though the other man didn’t budge he leaned down awkwardly to try and comfort the crying boy without the use of his arms.

I sighed and tried to explain to Naruto that it would be up to Asuma what happens with Itachi after he gets a trial for the crimes he did. Naruto didn’t want to hear it though, his anger lashing out at me. I didn’t know how to handle the other in this situation, I was struggling with my decision to take Itachi back myself. How can I possibly make Naruto understand when I didn’t fully support my own reasons?

“Naruto,” Itachi called to the other softly. He waited until the other had pulled away from his middle and his angry pants were down to quiet sniffles.

“You’re making trouble for Kakashi-san. Your dad is just doing what he thinks is right. It may not seem fair but it has been enough for me to see the both of you again, I'm glad I was able to complete my mission and that you are always going to be safe from now on. So please don’t cry,” Itachi said in his ever calm and melodic voice. A few of his words caught my attention and now I felt even more conflicted than I did before. _Mission?_

“Plus, aren’t you supposed to be training to be a ninja? A five-day walk should be nothing for you,” the Uchiha finished in a teasing tone that had Naruto livening up again, his cheeks flushing red once again but this time in embarrassment.

As the two began to banter back and forth I stepped right in front of Itachi, both of them becoming quiet as I stared at the other’s neutral expression. Deciding not to think too much about the consequences I reached around Itachi to untie the blindfold, long black strands of hair sliding between my fingers in the process. Red eyes blinked up at me with emotion in them that I didn’t quite understand. The silence was thick, no one wanting to make me rethink my decision.

“Thank you,” Itachi said in the scant space between us. I pulled away suddenly as I caught myself wanting to touch the man as he looked at me with those trusting eyes. Glancing at Naruto as I turned back in the direction we were going I saw the blond had a bright smile on his face and was sending me an adoring look. I ruffled the boy’s hair as I passed him.

“You better keep up Naru,” I told him as I flashed away. Naruto called behind me that he was gonna leave me in the dust as he played catch up, Itachi just a half step behind me.

Thanks to that decision our three days left of the trip became one and we were arriving in Konoha much faster than anticipated. Yamato was the first to greet us on the outskirts of the village, the man relieved to see Naruto safe and well but the moment the other ANBU realized who was in tow, he was instantly wary of the Uchiha. Itachi only glanced at me purposefully and bowed his head slightly in my direction, a clear indicator of what he wanted. Despite Naruto’s protests I retied the blindfold and waited as more ANBU were called to escort Itachi to a holding cell, tying on my fox mask back on in the process of waiting.

“Naru I need you to head home and wait for me there, can you do that?” I asked the boy as I saw Naruto quickly latching onto Itachi’s shirt just as several ANBU cells reached us. He started to shake his head and huddled closer to the Uchiha as the ANBU members approached.

“Naruto, you have to listen to your father,” Yamato told him as he crouched in front of the other.

“No! You’re just going to hurt Itachi-nii! Dad please,” Naruto pleaded and it took a strong will to keep a neutral face as I tried to balance being a father and the highest-ranking ninja in the ANBU.

“Naruto, go home with Yamato. He will stay with you until I get back,” I said in a stern but not harsh tone. I needed him to listen and not cause more of a scene as I couldn’t do much to soothe him in front of the ANBU. Though we were to work together as teams for the good of the village, they were the blood thirstiest of ninja in the Leaf. It felt a lot like wrangling a group of lions; they respected and feared me so they didn’t dare do anything to Naruto or myself but show a little softness and they’d rip you apart without a second thought.

Naruto clung onto Itachi as he stared me down with determined yet watery eyes. Naruto was a good son and a well-behaved kid even with his occasional pranks or bratty attitude, which was admittedly endearing most times, so him deliberately disobeying me in front of others was enough to show me he felt strongly about this.

One of the members of a different captain’s team sighed loudly and swiftly made his way over to where Naruto and Itachi stood. The man yanked harshly on Naruto’s arm and had Itachi not sent a swift kick to the other man, sending him flying he’d have a kunai to his throat right now. The other ANBU took battle stances immediately, jumping back to get space between the dangerous captive. I sent a deadly glare to the man whose mask flew off and was now starting to get off of the floor.

“The next time you think about touching my son, you won't have hands to attempt to,” I told him icily and the other cowered away. I walked up to Naruto and pulled him closer to myself as I leaned down to be face level with him, pulling the mask down enough so we could lock eyes.

“I need you to go home. We can talk about this then. Asuma won’t let anything happen for at least a few days, so no more arguing, please,” I told him softly. The look in his bright blue eyes broke my heart as I saw the sadness and confusion and the ball of other emotions he didn’t even know how to express. He looked down in defeat and nodded his head softly with such a vulnerable look on his face that I just wanted to wrap him up and hide him from all the things that could cause him such an aching pain.

I looked to Yamato and gave him a curt nod, the other coming close to our small group and pulled Naruto gently along with him with a hand on the boy’s back. I put my mask back in place and watched as they left quickly. Turning back around I motioned for one of the others holding several lengths of chain to hand them to me and once I had them in hand I secured the ones with cuffs to each of Itachi’s arms to lead from the front and connected one to the links of the cuffs holding his hands. Handing off the chain to Mai I told them to follow and instructed another to find Asuma and inform him of the situation.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the Konohagakure Intelligence Division where the ANBU shared the holding cells and interrogation rooms for criminals and ninja that were brought in for questioning and judgement. Itachi was sat in a chair, the ANBU making sure his legs were also tied so he couldn’t pull anything like earlier. I sat in a chair in the corner of the room as the others left and I waited for Asuma to arrive.

“Thank you,” I told him so quietly that if the room weren’t as dead silent as it was, he’d probably had missed it.

“That man is lucky to be alive,” Itachi replied in that calm voice that never wavered. Silence descended again and the minutes seemed excruciatingly long and it made my cluttered thoughts all the more prominent.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the thick door creaked open and Asuma entered the space, his Hokage robes fluttering behind him as he strode in. The robes looked odd on the man, the red and white contradicting his dark hair and tanned skin in the dim lights of the room.

He glanced in my direction quickly before making his way to the chair that was directly across from Itachi at the table in the center of the room. He watched the blindfolded man silently and if the tension was thick before, it was stifling now.

Itachi’s hair slid over his shoulder as the man gave as much a bow as his restraints allowed and he greeted the other man respectfully. Asuma still didn’t say a word as Itachi raised his head once again and though the blindfold obstructed his eyes sight, I knew his eyes were closed in resignation.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you Itachi, you look a lot older than you are,” was the first thing Asuma said.

“It has been a long time Asuma-sama, I was sorry to hear about your father’s passing. I was just glad it was a peaceful death in the end,” the black-haired man said with a sincerity that not many people would believe.

Asuma smiled at the other, a small and grateful one, and thanked the other for his words. I watched the interaction quietly. I knew Itachi was always one to handle a situation with words rather than fighting and his calm and almost tepid demeanor lent itself to a calm discussion, but it was still rather odd to witness. This didn’t seem much like a trial or interrogation and from the looks of it, it would be a very sad execution as well.

“Now I wasn’t expecting to ever have you in this situation, so to be truthful I haven’t put any thought into how I should deal with this, with how I should handle you,” Asuma said truthfully. His honestly was admirable but he didn’t need to admit such a thing to the perpetrator himself.

“Well, if I had to guess from past knowledge, you would list out my crimes against the village and deem them accordingly. In my case, immediate execution is assured to ensure no further harm could come to the village or to give me a chance of escape,” Itachi said unperturbed. The way he spoke of his own execution as though it were another item on the Saturday to-do list that needed to be crossed off, left an unsettling feeling in my stomach and I could feel a lurching within me. Asuma nodded thoughtfully at the words, though Itachi couldn’t see the action.

“Yes, in the case of a rogue ninja who attacked innocent villagers you would be right, but from what I recall that isn’t so much the case with you,” Asuma said and I couldn’t help the confused tilt of my head.

“Now before we get to that, can I ask about the Akatsuki and their aim for kidnapping Naruto?” the Hokage asked the other and Itachi nodded.

“The Akatsuki’s goal was to create a new world, one that aligned with their world view. They were to kill all the Jinjuriki to create the 10-tailed beast so it could destroy everything in its path,” Itachi revealed and a shiver went down my spine. Against a beast like that, there would be nothing the world could do to defend itself.

“And when did your mission to end this plan begin?” Asuma asked. That again caught my attention as it was reminiscent of what Itachi mentioned on the way here.

“I take it the Third Hogake informed you of everything before he passed?” Itachi asked in a much quieter voice than before after a long pause of silence.

“Yes, I heard most of the details from him, though I’d like to confirm them with you in case anything was missing,” the other answered him. Itachi sighed a big breath that was uncharacteristic of him before he spoke.

“After the end of the Third Great Ninja War, I recall my father would hold secret meetings with a man that suddenly appeared, in the back room of our house with the other prominent members of my clan,” Itachi began a story that seemed to be very long and sad. Asuma stood, the chair making a harsh scraping sound along the stone floor causing Itachi to sharply lift his head. The tanned man leaned over the table and moved his hand slowly as he softly touched the blindfold that rests on the bridge of Itachi’s nose. I took a deep breath as annoyance surged within me and I had to stamp down the urge to move between the two that had caused my fingers to twitch. Itachi slowly leaned his head down, his long hair cascading over his shoulders again as Asuma untied the blindfold, folding it neatly and placing it on the table. The Uchiha thanked the Hokage and briefly glanced at me before looking back to the man in front of him and continuing his tale.

“As it became known that I was not like the rest of my peers my father started to include me in these meetings and he’d introduced the man as the founder of the Uchiha clan. Though that man was long supposed to be dead, I felt inclined to believe them as this person gave off a certain air. He held himself in a way I had never seen in any other ninja and when he’d seen my skill, he praised me. He said that I was nothing like anything he’d seen before and he wanted to make me his right-hand man in his plan, as I was one of the chosen ones that should be reborn in this new world he was going to make,” the crimson eyed man retold. The far-off look in his eyes was a sad one and it was at that moment that I knew Itachi had not had many happy moments in his 18 years of life.

“This man was also the leader of the Akatsuki. He gathered many individuals that were dangerous and agreed with his ideologies and hid them within the Uchiha Clan’s compound within the village. My father as leader of the clan allowed this in exchange for their assistance in changing their position within the village. It was at this point my younger brother Sasuke was brought into these meetings as well, showing a high potential of being a great ninja. I could not agree with their ideals,” Itachi’s voice held a new weight to it as he spoke.

“Their reform of the village would destroy it and my father was so enamored with power that he could not see this man was using our clan for his own selfish wants. They’d brainwashed the children of the Uchiha that they were chosen and others were beneath them, that others shouldn’t be allowed to live for the disrespect they dared show our clan. A clan they said should have been the rightful leaders of Konoha,” the man spoke with a venom in his tone I’d never heard from him before. Though his face remained neutral the swirling of his eyes told me he was having a hard time holding onto his emotions.

“They wanted to destroy the only thing I loved,” he said, his eyes locking onto mine as he spoke and my heart stuttered. My breath caught in my throat and the look on Itachi’s face seemed to be conveying more than his words were.

“I could not let that happen, so I informed the Third Hokage of what was happening after confirming that the Uchiha were going to follow through with their plans even after I tried many times to convince my father otherwise. My mission was to do what I deemed fit to eliminate the threat and any possible future threats to Konoha relating to the Akatsuki or Uchiha clan,” Itachi finished and looked directly at Asuma who nodded as though Itachi’s words only confirmed what he knew.

On the other hand, I struggled to keep myself from taking off my mask and rubbing my hands across my face. I shut my eyes with the knowledge that a 14-year-old child was left to decide how to _eliminate_ his whole family. A child was forced to bear the crucifix of the villain for the sake of the village and even the people closest to him believed in the ruse. I was ashamed.

This man had been suffering for so long and I had no idea. It really was eerie just how similar both of us were.

“How did the Akatsuki continue after that night?” Asuma asked; the question of which night not being needed. We all knew what he was talking about.

“I’d warned the Akatsuki. I convinced them that I was better than that man and I would prove it to them by killing him. I told them I wanted to be a part of their organization bad enough that I would do whatever I needed to. They left just before I carried out the mission and afterwards they accepted me with open arms and over the years they perfected their plan as they gathered information about the Jinjuriki. A few months ago they decided to enact their plan and I convinced them to leave the 9-tailed beast for last as I knew personally that his father was an even greater threat than an entire nation,” the words were spoken with a small, creeping smile that had the blood in my veins singing and my chest filling with pride.

“Your plan was for the Akatsuki to be eliminated in one fell swoop,” Asuma surmised and at Itachi’s nod he shut his eyes, tilting his head up in thought as his arms came to cross in front of his chest.

“Yes, the plan was to wait for Kakashi-san to act, and when he’d strike I would eliminate the biggest threat of the Akatsuki. Though it turned out to be a bit preemptive since they wanted to kill the Jinjuriki even though all the members of the Akatsuki hadn’t arrived,” Itachi answered clearly.

“Well Itachi, I can say mission accomplished and a job well done. The burden the village has put on you was the heaviest I can imagine and I have no way of repaying you besides fully reinstating you as a member of the village and your status as an honorable ninja of Konoha,” Asuma said with a broad grin.

Itachi watched the man with a surprised expression on his face. Well, as surprised as Itachi could be. I was surprised as well as I didn’t think going into this room that there would be any kind of positive outcome.

“Hokage-sama, I don’t think that would be a wise decision,” Itachi eventually said as he looked down at the table for the first time. His expression was hard to read as the man had years and years of practice with hiding his emotions.

“What do you mean? I thought you would be happy with it,” Asuma asked, clearly confused. Itachi didn’t look up from his downturned position and it broke my heart knowing that the other refused to look up for fear of the mask slipping. It was a feeling I could sympathize all too well with.

“The village knows what I’ve done, they will not understand even if it is known that it was to protect them. In any case, you cannot tell them that was the reason for the elimination of the Uchiha clan as it would put doubt in the villagers’ minds of the honor and justness of the leadership in the village. It would ruin the village and what I fought to protect will be in danger again. The best course of action would be to execute me quietly,” Itachi’s voice was devoid of any emotion, something that had yet to happen even as he spoke of murdering his clan.

“You insult my father’s and my honor insinuating that I would agree to such a thing,” Asuma told the other seriously and darkly and I could see the other’s fingers twitch, a tick he’d recently acquired that meant he wanted a cigarette.

“Sir, I have accomplished what I was meant to and there is no greater joy for me now than to die with peace of mind,” Itachi continued in that detached voice.

I stood abruptly, bringing their attention to me. I had nothing to say as they looked at me, I hadn’t realized I was out of my seat until I locked eyes with a pair of crimson ones. I had too much to say and not enough words to express it all at once and I was left with an ache deep inside.

“I apologize for interrupting Hogake-sama,” I spoke to Asuma trying to stall for a bit of time before putting the rapidly forming plan in my mind into words.

“Nothing to apologize for Fox, what is it?” Azuma asked me, clearly intrigued that I interrupted in the first place.

“After hearing that his actions were part of a mission I agree that execution is an insult to the ninja code we uphold,” I said clearly. Asuma nodded and asked if I had any suggestions on how to avoid what Itachi was proposing.

“Though I believe he does not need to do anything but accept your previous proposal Hokage-san if there is no way around putting up another ruse for the village, then having him serve the village as a form of atonement would be a good way to divert attention away from the odd handling of this case. The Uchiha’s were isolated, and though there was talk about how they were all killed, there was not much talk about who committed the crime. Itachi having been deep within the ninja world, whose inner workings are also kept fairly hidden from the villagers, is also advantageous as we can pass off his absence as protecting a lone survivor,” I spoke the words as the final plan was solidifying in my mind.

It was true that the villagers hardly inquired about how the ninja aspect of the village worked and that though the odd rumor started from time to time it was hardly spoken about in the day to day lives of the public. I recalled four years ago how there were the titters of how the Uchiha clan was killed and how it was saddening even though they were a closed-off bunch but never had I heard Itachi’s name uttered among the chatter. And I was looking hard for mentions of the other at that time.

Asuma watched me intently as did Itachi, the scrutiny of their gazes made me want to fidget but I held myself as calm and collected as I normally would. Asuma nodded and asked if I had any ideas about how he could serve the village.

“My recommendation is to become an instructor at the Academy or the leader of teams. I haven’t heard of another tale of loyalty like this one and I believe that putting him in a position of teaching would be invaluable to the village,” I said not looking at Itachi, eyes firmly latched onto Asuma.

“Mmm, I like that idea a lot. Though I think we could cover up Itachi's presence with the villagers I don’t think the higher-ups or the ninja forces here would be too happy. Itachi’s famous as a rouge, after all, no one would be able to relax,” Asuma mused and turned back to the man in question who’d been sitting in silence, face once again downturned.

“Plus he doesn’t have any place to go,” the tanned man added almost to himself. He shut his eyes in thought and the room descended into silence.

“Ah!” the man suddenly shouted after a few moments and had it not been for our training both Itachi and I would have jumped.

“I’ve got it. He can stay with you! He’ll be under your “supervision” since everyone knows you’re the only one who could handle Itachi they’d have no argument and Itachi would have a place to stay,” Asuma finished with a proud huff. I eyed him suspiciously as the man looked at me with an expression I knew all too well.

Though Asuma was two years older than I was, I knew the man very well since I was always near him due to my role in the ANBU and as his father’s personal guard. The man was up to something right now and though I didn’t know what it was, his suggestion would fix the rest of the problem we had. In my house and under my supervision, none of the ninjas could dispute that Itachi was well under guard and by not putting him back in the force he eliminated any suspicion anyone could have of the other. Plus, it wasn’t like I hadn’t missed the other’s presence in my home when Naruto was being especially bratty or when we’d fought and the other ignored me for several days. It was in those times, when we were younger, that Itachi always managed to talk Naruto down from his stubbornness and coaxed the other to sit down with me and address the issue.

“I don’t mind it,” I told him after a few seconds of thought. Asuma turned back to Itachi and asked him what he thought about it. The Uchiha reluctantly accepted the proposal after Asuma told him he deserved happiness for everything he’s done.

“Alright then, Fox can you let him go? I will get the paperwork done today and start informing the higher-ups,” the man said as he stood up.

“For today and the next few days lay low Itachi. Fox, you also get a few days off. Though it wasn’t an official mission for you, you aided in Itachi’s mission and eliminated a threat to the village. Well done,” the man told me as he clamped his hand on my shoulder and gave a firm and reaffirming squeeze.

I nodded at him as he smiled at me and turned to Itachi once again and gave a deep bow of thanks, that a Kage should **not** be giving anyone, before leaving to start the work he needed to get done. Swiftly I went about removing Itachi’s bindings and offered the man a hand to stand as I knew his feet must hurt with the tightness of the ankle cuffs that had been holding him down. The other gratefully took my hand and pulled himself to stand, stretching his fingers, wrists, and arms as they’d been in a singular position for several days now.

“Would you like a shower?” I asked him after a few seconds of silence. He looked up at me, as our difference in height was a few inches, and smiled genuinely.

“I would like that,” he said and we made our way out of the building.

Many eyes were watching us leave, the feeling of predators watching the prey was one that would be unsettling had we not been who we were. We stopped at the market on our way back to the house to pick up food to eat as it’s been days since Naruto and I had a nice home-cooked meal.

We stopped after we were a ways away from the congregation of ANBU and I handed my mask to Itachi and also stripped off my jounin jacket, handing it to the other as well to try and draw the least amount of attention to him as possible. It was less suspicious if a member of the ANBU was shopping for leaks and chicken than if I’d been spotted with an unknown man in the market. The baa-sans were relentless in their gossip.

It was a surreal experience walking home with Itachi, bags of groceries in hand, and a not quite awkward, not quite comfortable silence between us. There were still a lot of things that needed to be said but that was for another day.

Naruto’s surprised and excited yell when we arrived at the house filled the space as I closed the door behind us. He tackled the Uchiha in a big hug as the other patted his back affectionately while trying to balance the two bags of food in one arm. I watched in amusement as the blond rubbed his wet hair against the other after what I assumed to be a shower. After kicking off my shoes I took up the two bags from Itachi easily, deciding to spare the other from the challenge of balancing both the groceries and trying not to topple over because of the excited preteen. I made my way to the kitchen to see Yamato sitting peacefully at my kitchen table, mask lying next to him.

“I guess I will get the story later?” the other asked standing up and picking up his belongings.

“Yes, Asuma told me to stay at home for the next few days and when he’s taken care of everything I will fill you in on all the details,” I told him as I put the bags down and started taking out the variety of food I’d bought.

“Thank you for staying with Naruto,” I thanked the man before he waved me off and told him that lunch was on me the next time. With that, he saw himself out as Naruto showed Itachi around the house, though it was hard to imagine the other ninja had forgotten in the time he was gone. I took off my hitai-ate and mask, ruffling up my hair as I finally felt like I could relax, and leaned against the counter in tiredness. It’d been a long few days. Suddenly, I tuned into Naruto’s chatter and couldn’t help but laugh at the other’s antics.

“Naru, relax. Leave Itachi alone and help me with dinner, aren’t you hungry?” I asked the other which immediately got the other in the kitchen asking what was for dinner.

If there was one thing Naruto and I shared in common it was our love for food. If the boy wasn’t adamant about being a ninja he would have been a chef or a food critique with as much as he loves to wolf everything down. I told Itachi that he could shower and I would bring him a change of clothes while I finished the food. I turned to see the other watch Naruto and me as the blond buzzed around me in excitement while I chopped vegetables for the simple stirfry I was going to make. The expression on his face was one of longing and sadness and happiness and relief all at once.

I put the knife down and made my way to stand in front of him, the other having to look up at me. I touched his arm in an echoing of how he’d grabbed mine days prior and told him to not worry so much. Explaining that the shower is where it's always been and telling him not to be shy about being in the house. I sent him on his way to the shower and I went about setting out a fresh set of clothes for him while I left Naru in charge of finishing the vegetable chopping. Though the shirt I grabbed might be a bit big on Itachi and the pants might drag a bit they would do the job until we were able to buy him clothes.

There was a big clattering in the kitchen and an alarmed yell from Naruto. Rolling my eyes I hurried back to see the other had barely managed to save the vegetable from the floor because of his clumsiness.

“Naru, set the table please,” I told him on a sigh, the other bouncing off unbothered by the change in task. I set to cooking the thinly sliced meat with a nice blend of sauce to go with it and in minutes the food was done and placed on the table just in time for Itachi to rejoin us in the kitchen.

Naruto went on about how long Itachi’s hair had gotten in the time he hadn’t seen the other and how he liked when it was down. Admittedly, it did look good. It framed the other’s face nicely and gave his usually stark and serious features a certain softness. His relaxed posture and small smile also helped give him an air of softness that was rare to see when he was younger, the only times being when we’d have dinner just like this or when Naruto and he would play together.

I smiled as I finished my food, just enjoying listening to the other two as they talked. Well, mostly listening to Naruto talk while Itachi responded here and there when necessary. I was brought out of my thoughts when Naruto called my name a bit loudly.

“Dad! You weren’t even listening to me!” the other whined leaning back in his chair with a pout and a dramatic crossing of his arms.

“I’m sorry Naru your voice made my ears numb,” I teased him a bit which earned me a feisty and bratty response that it was because I was getting old. I laughed at the other which only riled him up more.

“Alright, alright brat. What'd you want?” I asked him. Standing up I motioned for his empty plate which he handed over without thought as he went about picking everything up from the table and starting to put it away.

“I asked if Itachi could sleep with me tonight. It’ll be fun!” the other exclaimed and I stopped scrubbing the dishes at the words. Itachi silently placed his dish to be washed and picked up a cloth to start drying the ones I handed off to him. I eyed the Uchiha, the other not turning to look at me as he kept his eyes firmly on his hands and the dish he was drying.

“Naru, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I told him slowly. I was walking a fine line of trusting and not trusting the other ninja and though he’d saved us many times and I knew that everything he’d done was not out of betrayal but loyalty, it was hard to lay four years of doubt, suspicion, and hurt to rest.

“Naru, I think it is too soon for your father to fully trust me so let's not push him too fast ne?” Itachi asked the other in a soft voice, the one he always reserved for speaking to Naruto in. The blond pouted but didn’t argue with the other, yet he still asked where Itachi was going to sleep since our small house only had two bedrooms.

“We’ll figure that out, but for now you need to go to sleep. You’re tired and you want to see your friends first thing in the morning, right?” the words left me just as I finished up with all the dishes and turned to eye Naruto who was tittering on the backrest of the chair he always used at the table.

“I am not!” he denied with a big yawn which made me raise a disbelieving eyebrow at him. It amazed me just how stubborn he could be about the oddest of things.

“But you’re right I do want to see everyone tomorrow! They must have been so freaked out,” the brat mussed as he pushed his chair back in and quickly gave Itachi and me a hug in turn.

“Good night!” he called as he bounded off to his room after hearing our twin calls of “sleep well”, the door closing with a soft click.

The kitchen was filled with another weird silence and I offered the other a cup of tea while we had a few things to discuss. He accepted and within a few minutes we were sat on the only couch in the house with twin cups of tea and Naruto’s snores as background noise.

“I’m sure there are a lot of things you want to know,” Itachi started. The silence never seemed to bother the other before, but his words seemed to be out of necessity to fill the void rather than to make conversation.

“Yes, but out of everything I want to know why you didn’t tell me anything. I could have helped you, I thought of us as family,” I told him. I wasn’t one to lie to myself about my feelings, though I may not always seem to be the most upfront person. It’s true, that I usually withheld information about myself but that is not because of a lack of self-awareness or mistrustfulness of others, usually, it was to protect myself from being disappointed and hurt by others. So, I could admit fully that Itachi’s actions and disappearance four years ago hurt me deeply.

The other was a part of our family for a few years before he disappeared, leaving Naruto at a young age but old enough to remember the other. It had hurt the blond when I told him Itachi would not be coming back to have dinner with us or play with him anymore. The blue eyes I loved overflowed with tears for days and weeks after that hard conversation and it was hard for me to watch the other hurt so much. It was hard for _me_ to hurt so much. The sting of betrayal was deep and the hurt in my heart was worse. I thought of Itachi as more than another team member.

He was my partner, my equal in many respects of the word even though he was 9 years younger than me. I wouldn’t let just any member of the ANBU in my home. I wouldn’t let just any ninja sit at my dinner table with my vulnerable little boy who many wanted to see dead. I wouldn’t just let anyone into my heart after I’d been hurt so many times. But I had let _him_. I let Itachi do all those things and when he’d left, he left more than just a hurt little boy and his father. He left a void in my life that I didn’t fully realize was there until the moment he’d returned.

“I never thought of you as family Kakashi,” he said in a very soft voice. Hearing those words shattered all the things I ever thought I knew of Itachi. Was everything we’d shared been an illusion? Did I construct something in my mind that was never a reality?

“I’ve always loved you too much to have considered you family. I would never be able to settle for seeing you happy with someone else by your side like a family member should. Not when I wanted to be there so badly,” Itachi continued. This time my mind stuttered to stop, his words giving me the sensation of whiplash.

Itachi _loved_ **me**?

“Wha-?” I tried to form the words as I stared at the other’s profile. Itachi then turned to me and at seeing my expression he laughed. He _laughed_. It was full and deep and light all at once and it went on and on and it was something I didn’t think I would ever hear from him. Not in that way. Not something so pure and happy.

“I’ve never seen you so speechless Kakashi-san,” he told me as he leaned back, settling deeper into the crook of the arm of the couch.

“I didn’t, I don’t know-” I had too many things to straighten in my mind. There were too many things that I wanted to, no, **needed** to know and I didn’t know which one needed to be addressed first.

“I knew what my family was planning from a young age. They were all corrupt from the beginning, only seeing me as a tool. I was just a means to an end. I was too different from them. They wanted chaos and death and I wanted a world of peace and life. I felt like I had no one in the world on my side, no one in my corner and I felt so alone and so hopeless,” he said, taking a small sip of tea and huddling his knees toward his chest.

It was weird seeing one of the most feared ninjas in the shinobi world huddling into his hot cup of tea because he was seeking its warmth. I felt like I was seeing a vision from the past when we’d sit on this very same couch and talk for hours about our thoughts and opinions of whatever philosophical thing caught our interest that day. I felt like I was _wrong_ for thinking Itachi looked good in comfortable ( **my** ) clothes, relaxing on the couch. He looked like the 18-year-old that he was.

“Then I was accepted into the ANBU and assigned to your team. I finally found someone admirable and full of light in my world of darkness. You were someone who I aspired to be like and then suddenly you were kind to me in a space where kindness is looked at as a weakness,” I nodded at his words. The ANBU Black Ops division is not a place for the kindhearted.

“I don’t know why you did, but you looked after me when everyone thought I could look after myself. You supported me when I had no one and let me be a part of your world. **The** Kakashi Hatake thought I was worth being something more than a means to an end and somewhere along the way admiration and friendship grew into something more. You and Naruto became my important thing. You two became the thing I loved and wanted to protect the most and that meant I would do anything to keep you two safe,” he finished with a small smile.

“Even at the cost of your life,” I stated, a hard edge to my tone. I was angry that he’d throw away his whole life for me- _us_ \- when there was no need for that. He didn’t need to put himself in danger for our sake when we could have done something about it together. He didn’t need to suffer so long by himself.

“Even at the cost of the world hating me, even both of you. It was worth keeping you two safe and happy,” he corrected, and I shut my eyes, leaning my forehead to meet the rim of my mug that rested on my knees.

How was I _that_ blind?

How did I not know Itachi felt that way?

How did I not know **_I_** felt this way?

“I don’t know what to say,” I told him quietly. There had been a lot of information to take in today, and _this_ bit has reset my brain.

I felt Itachi move and felt his fingers running through my hair. He was the only other person besides Naruto that knew that it was a gesture of comfort for me, one that I immensely enjoyed. I basked in the touch for a few seconds before I lifted my head to look at him, his face held a soft and understanding expression.

“You don’t have to say anything. I never dreamed that I would have this second chance to be in your lives again, so I won't waste it,” he said and took the cup from my hand and placed both mugs on the table before slowly bringing his hands to my face, his thumb brushing just over my mole.

His crimson red eyes slowly faded into a soft grey as he looked at me and it was the ultimate show of trust for him. Itachi of the Sharingan never released control of his power as it didn’t drain him of hardly any energy, for him to do so now and so deliberately spoke volumes more than any words could have. He didn’t move for a few more seconds to watch for my reaction and I couldn’t deny the pounding of my heart at the moment. He leaned in and his lips were much softer against mine than I would have imagined.

The kiss was short and intimate, and it touched something so deep inside me that I didn’t know what this feeling was. I had no name for it, no label to put to the emotions welling from me since it was something I’ve never felt before. Itachi pulled away and bumped his forehead to mine, his eyes still closed and it brought to my attention how long his eyelashes were. I looked at the slope of his cheekbones and the attractive straight nose before the man was pulling away altogether and gathering the two mugs up again, this time moving toward the kitchen to wash them properly.

“You should get some rest. My real attack has already started and you have been caught unawares Kakashi-san,” Itachi said with a teasing smirk.

“Plus, you’re on my bed,” the brat added cheekily before sauntering past the kitchen threshold. I sat in a stupor before swiftly getting up and pulling out sheets and a pillow for the other to use and once they were laid out I bid the other, who was leaning on the door frame to the kitchen watching me, a goodnight.

“Goodnight Kakashi-san,” Itachi said quietly and I made my way to my room. Sleep came surprisingly easily, though it usually did when I was trying to avoid all my problems.

In the following days, I didn’t quite know how to act around Itachi, especially since the man himself wasn’t acting any different than normal. We went about cleaning the house as both Naruto and I had been gone for close to a week, and we hadn’t had a chance to get our weekly cleaning done before we left. Itachi was a great help in keeping Naruto on track even as the other sang us a concert of epic proportions throughout the process.

Speaking of the blond the other was over the moon to have Itachi back, the boy not having missed a beat. It felt as though Itachi never left. As the days went on Naruto had to go back to the Academy, already a week behind his class though it didn’t mean much as Naruto excelled in all the basics already. That meant that Itachi and I spent much more time together as Asuma was still getting everything in order so Itachi could take the exam to be an instructor at the Academy or a team leader. It was after the man himself and his wife came by to inform us of that fact that I put some thought into what I’d volunteered Itachi for.

Though it was true that I thought that Itachi being an instructor at the Academy or the leader of a team would be supremely beneficial to the village, I had said it in the spur of the moment. I hadn’t taken into account if Itachi _wanted_ to teach or not, though he was fantastic with Naruto. I hadn’t considered the fact maybe Itachi wanted to do something other than ninja work, which wouldn’t be so farfetched with the man’s pacifistic world view.

“I’m sorry,” I told him as he was going about putting away the clean dishes from lunch. The other turned toward me with a small tilt to the head and an open and inquisitive expression that was causing a stirring within me. Itachi was never this open with anyone, his demeanor changing completely from when he was around others to when it was just the three of us in the house. The knowledge that this man that was so feared and powerful, so guarded and at odds with the world, was so open and at ease in our presence did something to me.

I didn’t realize that I was moving until I caught my hand about to caress his cheek. The other leaned into the touch the rest of the way and nuzzled into my hand, softly asking what I was apologizing for.

“I didn’t even ask you what you wanted to do and here I went and volunteered you for becoming an instructor or team lead,” I told him, not questioning my movements since they seemed to be the natural thing to do.

Itachi’s hands moved to my waist, holding me lightly as he seemed to be cautious of my reactions, but the action didn’t bother me. For once I didn’t want to overthink things, especially things with Itachi. Being with the other had always put me at ease and seemed as natural as breathing, maybe that was why I’d took such an interest in the other in our younger days. So, I didn’t want to ruin things by overthinking what was going on between us, everything was the same and different all at once and though I was comfortable with the things that were the same, the things that were different were new and exciting.

“I don’t mind. In all honesty, I am tired of having to fight every day to survive, I’ve done it from the moment I could walk and talk. Teaching the new generation to be good ninjas sounds like a good way for me to spend the rest of the time I have,” he said as I moved my hand from his cheek to cradle the back of his neck. The other pulled me closer to him and his soft grey eyes never left mine for a moment, we were locked together at that moment.

“Itachi, I don’t know what this feeling is but I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, I don’t-” I started but the other shushed me and I felt like our positions had been flipped like Itachi was the suave elder one and I was the inexperienced 18-year-old.

“That’s fine Kakashi, I can help you figure it out,” he said, his breath brushing against my lips as he was standing on his toes to press into me. His lips claimed mine, one of his hands sliding up to my chest, just above where my heart was pounding while his weight settled firmly against my body.

My hand automatically gripped onto his hip while I used the touch I still had on him to slide to his neck, tilting him just where I wanted him to be. Suddenly I was lost in everything that was Itachi, the stirrings I had within myself suddenly lit a fire and I recognized it as desire. Stepping forward, I forced Itachi to take fumbling steps backwards on his tiptoes, and soon he was pressed against the counter of the kitchen, these small noises leaving him that drove me crazy.

“Oh my Kami, do that in the room!” I heard an undignified screech come from behind us. I turned to see Naruto had fallen over, his school bag, which was apparently not closed right, spilled its contents all over the floor. The other had an angry blush on his face and one hand covering his eyes while the other was splayed in front of him as though to protect him from an attack. I stood frozen.

I didn’t know what Naruto’s reaction would be, we’d never talked about how it was alright to love whoever you wanted whether that be a woman or a man. A million things were rushing through my mind, but my train of thought was broken when Itachi laughed. Naruto pulled his hand away from his eyes to glare at the Uchiha as he pulled away from me and crouched in front of Naruto to ruffle his hair.

“I told you I’d be launching my attack Naru, what are you so surprised about?” the Uchiha asked casually as though he was talking about what he was going to make for dinner that night.

“Yeah, but you didn’t say it would be in the kitchen!” Naruto exclaimed and pushed the other’s hand away even as Itachi was already moving to pick up the papers that had flown everywhere.

“You’re okay with this?” I asked Naruto as he was bickering with an amused Itachi. They both stopped their movements to look back at me. They then turned to give each other a conspiratorial glance before looking back at me and Naruto spoke.

“Dad for being a genius, you’re slow for some things,” was all the blond said before he stood up, extending a hand to help Itachi up, and after collected his papers moved off to go to his room. I was baffled to have been called slow by my son.

“Why are you home so early?!” I called behind him, not admitting that I was flustered. I would take that to my grave.

“Are you mad that I interrupted you?” the brat had the audacity to yell across the house.

I groaned at the snickers I heard from Itachi and told him this was all his fault. The other made his way in front of me again and pulled me into a hard, short kiss.

“I **want** to be the _only_ reason you get so flustered Kakashi-san,” he told me with a saucy smirk as he pulled away and made his way to the entryway.

“Naru, I’m going to buy dinner, do you want to come?” the other called across the house and it caused the blonde to come bounding out immediately. The two were gone in what seemed like an instant and I was left with the contradictory feelings of burning desire and embarrassment.

…

Itachi turned out to be a very patient and kind teacher to the kids. He spent the first couple of months after passing his instructor exam with flying color, with the cohort of new ninja just after Naruto’s graduating class, but quickly decided he wanted to spend more one on one time with the individuals on a team. When I asked Itachi about wanting to switch, he said that Irkua and Daikoku had a very good dynamic and were good teachers for the kids and that he felt his skills would be better suited to teach the kids in a more hands-on approach.

He even suggested to Asuma a new way for the teams to rotate around team leaders so they could get more exposure to how other ninja execute their missions and help the young ninja add more skills or approaches to their repertoire. The Hokage liked the idea so much that he implemented it right away with Itachi being in charge of the program and being the final team lead the students would work with before the Chunin exams.

I was proud of the other for doing so many more good things than he’d already done and for doing his part of making his dream of a more peaceful and safer world come true. He was a big hit with all the students and slowly the ninjas who’d known who he was were starting to come around. He even managed to convince Naruto to be in a team that was not led by me as I was still an active member of the ANBU.

Of course, the blond fought it tooth and nail but, at the end, when Itachi explained his ideas and how it would make Naruto a better ninja than he could be training just under me, the boy agreed. Declaring that he’d surpass me and become Hokage himself someday. I chuckled as I watched said future Hokage be thrown back into a tree from a simple deflection from Itachi.

Naruto had insisted that we both help him in training and of course, we were always planning to make sure Naruto was the strongest new generation ninja in all of the shinobi world, so we agreed after making the other work for it. It never hurt to make sure the other got thoroughly flustered every once and a while. It was a rare day where all of us were off and we’d decided it was a nice enough day to bully and knock Naruto around a bit to help the other. I was currently laid under the shade of a tree reading while Itachi was teaching Naruto about genjutsu, hence why the brat was having a hard time.

“Naru, you aren’t using enough chakra. Why, when you have so much of it?” Itachi asked and my attention was brought to the conversation.

“I don’t have that much Itachi-nii! That’s why I’m struggling with everything!” the blond cried out pitifully. It caused Itachi to tilt his head cutely and I had tone down the look in my eyes when the Uchiha gave me a quick glance, obviously feeling my stare.

“What do you mean Naru, you have not only yours but the Kyuubi’s charka at your disposal. Have you not been training to access and control that?” Itachi asked more towards me than to Naruto, both of them looking in my direction.

“The one time I tried explaining it to him he burst into tears from frustration. I was going to get in touch with Killer Bee since he has the best relationship with his tailed beast out of all the Jinjuriki, but then everything went to hell and here we are,” I said with a carefree shrug. Itachi shook his head in disbelief and sent me a judgement filled look.

“Luckily for us, there is supposed to be a Kage summit soon and Killer Bee is sure to be there, your father can go personally and ask for his help,” Itachi told Naruto with a glance in my direction that meant I wasn’t to argue. I grinned in his direction with a tilt of my chin and then went back to my book as the both of them moved on to training taijutsu.

“Dad, can I stay at Shikamaru’s tonight? Shikaku-san said they were making homemade ramen and that I should stay over,” Naruto asked after we were all showered and dressed after the long training session, the sun already low in the sky. The other had bounced right on top of me as I laid on the couch comfortably reading my book and Itachi laughed at the ugly grunt I’d let out.

“Yes, I’ll send Pakkun with you to make sure it’s alright,” I told the other as he jumped up in excitement, another series of grunts left me as he pushed up and off of me. He ran to his room with a yelled “thanks dad!” over his shoulder to go pack his bag and I shook my head at the other’s antics.

It still amazed me how being in a near-death situation at his age didn’t faze the other at all. I jumped slightly when I felt a weight settle on my side and turned to see Itachi laying his head on my chest. I smiled at the other, as these small acts of physical contact were starting to become a regular and much-anticipated thing and we shuffled a bit as I pulled my arm out from under him to wrap comfortably around his shoulders and went back to reading as Naruto ran by us to the front door. I quickly summoned Pakkun to go with the other and they were off in no time, the house becoming quiet once again.

It was a while later that I finished the book I’d been reading for the last week and I glanced down at Itachi since the other hadn’t moved for a while. He was peacefully asleep. I smiled down at him as I put the book down and pushed aside a few strands that had fallen in his face, tucking them behind the other’s ear. Over the past few months, I’d realized that every day was more fulfilling than the last with the other man in our lives.

It made my worry of leaving Naruto during extended missions disappear and when I arrived home with dinner was already being made, the two boys chatting filling the house, my heart felt at ease. Itachi had fallen right back into the rhythm of our lives the moment I’d laid eyes on him again and these feelings that I didn’t realize I’d always had continued to grow for the other. It was effortless, like waking up in the mornings or settling down for bed.

I couldn’t help myself as I leaned down to press a small kiss to those long black locks, both of my arms coming to hold around the other. I rearranged us a bit, Itachi moving with me without completely waking up and I settled lengthways on the couch, the other still comfortably asleep between my legs, his own arms looping loosely around my waist. Pakkun appeared again once I’d settled down for my own nap and told me that Shikaku had offered and was still willing for Naruto to stay the night, apparently with a few more of his friends than anticipated. I thanked the other before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and I rested my head back on the arm of the couch, fingers threading through Itachi’s hair. I felt my whole body relax and the weight of Itachi on me was nice. Knowing _he_ was safe in my arms was nice. It was harder to keep my eyes open as I stroked my fingers through silky black locks and I didn’t realize when I finally did close them.

I was pulled back into consciousness by a pleasant feeling. Soft feather-light touches to my neck were what was bringing me to wakefulness but the fingers caressing the back of my head, strands of my hair brushed in between them was drawing me back to sleep.

“I love you Kakashi,” I heard the quiet words as they were pressed into my neck. They sent a shiver down my spine and I forced myself to pull my head up to look down at the other.

The soft grey eyes were staring up at me as he leaned down to press another kiss to the base of my neck. I used the hand that was still loosely tangled in his hair to bring Itachi nose to nose with me, the soft almost unperceivable gasp that left him ignited the fire of desire that had been building within me for months now.

Our lips locked and the once gentle strokes of my hair became an anchor for the other man as I rose to rest my shoulders higher up on the arm of the couch, deepening the kiss with the added leverage. Though I’d never had sex with a man before, I was no stranger to how to give my partners pleasure. Tearing them apart piece by piece as they withered beneath me was the ultimate bliss for me and with Itachi, it would be the best of all.

The hand that had been wrapped around the other as I napped now snaked its way down Itachi’s back, slowly sliding my fingers with the slightest bit of pressure to feel the definition of strong muscle beneath them. Itachi broke the kiss to pull in small huffs of breath as my hand kneaded the firm muscle of his ass, his hot breath puffing against my neck sending pleasant shivers along my skin. The grip I had on his hair slipped down to firmly grab the back of his neck, my thumb resting on his pulse which hammered away harshly, as the man went back to pressing more open-mouthed kisses to my neck.

A soft sound left him at the pressure of my hand on his neck and it sent a pang of arousal through me. My hand that was not keeping the other in place slowly continued on its way down Itachi’s body, my fingers sliding between the back of his thighs to stroke lightly at the juncture of his legs. The other jerked in my hold and tightened his grip on my hair, my head tilting back at the action and a quiet grunt left me. I shifted my hips to alleviate some of the growing pressure to my front and it caused another sound to leave Itachi, the man gripping on tighter to me as his forehead fell forward to rest on my chest.

“Kakashi-san,” Itachi’s voice shook slightly as he called my name and I lightened my grip on his neck to let the other look up at me. His eyes were full of desire and there was no more denying what I felt for this man and how much I also wanted him. I locked our lips together again, my tongue roving the seam of where our lips met and invading his mouth when he willingly opened up for me.

I pressed forward again with more intention, Itachi’s back curving nicely at the deeper angle, my foot planting on the floor for more stability and leverage. My light touches on his thigh turned into a firm grip as I did the same with my other hand and then I was standing up in a smooth motion, the other man having to grab onto my shoulders so he wouldn’t fall. He looked at me in surprise, not expecting the movement and most likely not expecting me to lift him like he weighed nothing. I allowed the slow grin to take over my face and kissed him again, the man wrapping his legs around my waist as I made my way to my room. What I wanted to do to him couldn’t be done on a couch.

Itachi’s strong hands ran down my shoulders, gripping and kneading where he could as I slowly devoured all the small but urgent sounds he was letting out. My tongue teased the roof of his mouth which got a full-body jolt out of the other and I felt the distinct pinprick pain of nails digging into my back as I kicked closed the door to the room. I pulled back and softly bit the other’s bottom lip in retaliation and with a knee on the edge of the bed I released my hold on the other altogether.

He tumbled to the bed with a level of ungracefulness I’d never seen from him and the light, non-threatening glare I got from him only made my smirk wider. I moved closer toward him as he shifted higher on the bed stopping just as I was between his knees, watching the way his dark hair splayed out on the grey sheets of my bed. He swiftly took off his shirt and when it was thrown to the side and forgotten he raised his arms, a silent invitation. Instead, I took one of his hands in mine and lifted it to my lips, pressing kisses to each of the knuckles and then down his wrist while never taking my eyes from the other man’s.

I made my trek up his arm in a similar manner with kisses and nips to his pale skin as his other hand came to tangle in my hair once again stroking the strands lightly. I didn’t rush as I made my way to his chest and giving his collar bone a bit rougher of a bite than the others. He jolted and I ran my tongue over the spot to soothe it and then made a quick stop to his lips to taste him again. I ran my hands up his arms in an imitation of what I’d done with my mouth and then my fingers dipped to run over his chest and down his stomach. He arched his back, trying to follow my touch, his hands coming up to my face to keep me from going too far.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I told the other softly and kissed him soundly again. I felt him relax against me as I pressed my weight down, showing him with my arousal that this was not one-sided. Showing him that I wanted and cared for him as much as he did me.

A moan left him as I rocked my hips against him, his leg coming to slide along my thigh and press against my hip as he locked the long limb around me. I kept the pace slow as I wanted to savor every part of him, wanted to know every part of the man who had loved me for years and dedicated his life to protecting what I held most dear.

“Kakashi-san I-” I cut him off with a kiss and told me that he was to call me Kakashi or Sir, watching his reaction to the directive for any signs of discomfort. His eyes fluttered in pleasure as he tried to press closer to me still.

“Do you understand Itachi?” I asked him softly, nipping his ear in the process and pressing more kisses to his neck. The other nodded shortly, hands running along my skin once again, causing goosebumps to run along the wake they left. The warmth of Itachi’s body contrasted to the coolness of my skin but reflected perfectly the heat I was feeling crawling up my chest and causing my face to burn.

“Kakashi, let me,” he said as he kissed me this time taking control of the kiss as he pushed lightly on my shoulders. I braced my weight to keep him from moving me even as I let him dominate the kiss, nipping my lips, and tilting my head. He pulled away to look at me, a small tilt to his head in a silent question.

“Next time you can, I want to take you apart today. I want to taste every part of you and show you that I love you as much as you love me, is that alright?” I asked the other patiently, looking directly into his eyes while lifting his hand to nuzzle his open palm and press a kiss to it. Itachi swallowed thickly and it would be amusing how out of sorts the, usually ever calm and unshakable, man was if it wasn’t so arousing.

“Yes Sir,” he answered slowly, and I shut my eyes at the sound of his voice calling me that. It sent a shiver through me and almost made me want to speed everything along to have him crying in pleasure and withering for release right now. Opening my eyes again I heard a small hitch in his breath and knew it had to be at the red Sharingan eyes looking right through him.

No one knew that I couldn’t control the Sharingan very well if my emotions were high, my tightly ever controlled chakra flaring if faced with too much. It was why I worked tirelessly for years to remain calm in every situation, to be in control of my emotions, and not make mistakes. But here with Itachi, I knew I could let myself show. I knew it was fine to be vulnerable and the other won’t take advantage of that. He would love me for every success and every mistake I made. I didn’t have to worry unnecessarily around Itachi; the man wouldn’t run or be hurt by anything I did. He was strong enough to be both of our anchors; he was like the perch every hawk needed.

His fingers came to run along the scar on my face and placed a small kiss right where the tip of his finger touched the smooth flesh. Slowly I ran a hand down to where the seam of his pants sat low on his hips as the other showered me in kisses, the ones to my lips slow and intimate. I undid the pants and let my fingers play along the newly revealed skin before I started my slow descent down his body. I stopped at his nipples to lick and suck and tease them each in turn which had the other squirming, his breathing picking back up as he held my head in place and arched up to try and press closer. With a sharp nip, I moved further down, kissing and sucking dark spots into the flesh in a random pattern.

A sense of immense pride welled inside me when I leaned back and looked down at the other to see the myriad of red splotches that stood stark against his paleness. I was the only one to have seen Itachi like this. I will be the **only** one to see him like this. I roughly pulled his pants and underwear off, the other’s eyes hooding further at the action as he watched me nip at the inside of his knee.

“You’re gorgeous,” I told him as I traced over the tops of his thighs. The toned legs were the perfect balance of softness and firmness, enough to knead the muscles and savor the feel of strength beneath the surface.

“Not me, you are. You’re so bright Kakashi, I’m so lucky you even give me the time of day,” the adoring look the other was giving me made it hard to argue with him, instead, I kissed him deeply again and when I pulled away again I told him to stay still.

I gave a suckling kiss to the flesh just below his navel and moved my attention to the straining erection in front of me. I could feel the muscles of his thigh twitching under my hands and his hand migrated back to my hair again as I gave a long swipe of the tongue from base to tip. The sensation wasn’t as weird as I might have thought, the taste was heady and the pulsing was pleasant against my tongue making me taking the tip fully into my mouth. My tongue was attracted to the dip of the tip, the feeling of it interesting as I flicked across it several times which had Itachi moaning. His legs spreading a bit wider to accommodate me better between his legs.

“It’s good,” Itachi mumbled as I slowly brought the rest of his erection into my mouth, sucking lightly and running my tongue along the underside, my hand kneading and pressing into his hip and the meat of his thighs. The man let out a sound between a deep, rumbling groan and a sweet, whiny moan that had me taking his erection into the back of my throat, keeping myself in check to make sure I didn’t gag around him as I wasn’t used to this.

I was quickly becoming addicted to making Itachi squirm in pleasure, watching and feeling him resist the urge to thrust into my mouth as I swallowed him down greedily. The other was muttering little praises and adoring words towards me, his legs pressing into my shoulders and the hand in my hair was becoming more firm, wanting me to take him in deeper and stay longer, keep him wrapped up in my warmth while he fucked my mouth. The moans that were starting to rise in volume made my head swim with pleasure, low ones of my own trickling between my stretched lips in response.

I splayed one of my hands out on his stomach, partly to hold the other down as he couldn’t help the small movement of his hips he was making and partly to ground myself. I didn’t want this to end too fast, I wanted to drag this experience out as long as possible and appreciate every moment of this and prove to Itachi that _no one_ could give him what I give him.

“Kakashi,” I heard the other call my name breathily. I looked up at the other with my mouthful and the other groaned, taking a firm hold of the hand on his stomach and raising it to his lips. I watched as my fingers disappeared behind those perfect lips, Itachi’s tongue teasing them and sucking gently which caused a grunt to leave me. I wanted that mouth around my cock. I wanted to see those pretty lips stretched and taking me to the base while his soft grey eyes were shiny with tears. I wanted to see him squirming on my cock from the overwhelming feeling of being full.

Pulling away from the other altogether and I stood from the bed, giving him a reassuring wink and smile at his slightly confused look. I reached into the bedside table’s drawer, quickly pulling out a rarely used bottle of lube and tossing it next to the other. I went to grab a condom as well but Itachi’s voice stopped me.

“We don’t need it. I want to feel all of you, just how you are,” Itachi told me with an almost drunken quality to his voice. My cock jumped in arousal as the spreading pleasure made my limbs tingle. My shirt and pants came off at a leisure pace, though the desperation inside me was almost too much to bear, the hungry look in Itachi’s eyes was enough incentive to remain at a relaxed pace. Anything to make him burn hotter for me, to keep his eyes locked only on me. Anything for his desire to be only for me.

Itachi quickly took up the lube and smeared some generously on his fingers, spreading his legs wider as the long digits rubbed along his sensitive parts. I watched, entrapped as the other was pleasuring himself, but a spike of jealously shot through me; I was the only one allowed to give him pleasure, that applied even to himself.

“Stop,” I commanded firmly. The other stilling immediately, grey eyes shooting up from my body to look into my eyes as I stalked back to the bed.

“I am the only one allowed to pleasure you, do you understand?” I asked him in a serious tone, one of my hands catching his wrist and pulled it away from his body. I saw a shudder go through him, his eyes shutting as he tried to catch deep breaths.

“Look at me,” I told him in a serious tone to which he complied quickly. His eyes were so dark with lust it was maddening.

“I asked if you understood what I said,” I reminded him slowly as I brought one of his soft legs to hook over my shoulder, my mouth pressing against the sensitive skin of his inner thigh. He nodded, obviously not trusting his words but that wasn’t enough for me. I bit much harder than I had any other time into the meat of his thigh, a loud cry and jolt was the satisfying result.

“Understood?” I asked for the last time, my tone heavier than before.

“Yes! Yes… Sir,” Itachi added slowly. The expression on my face must have told him everything he needed because he relaxed back into the bed.

“Good job, Love. You’re so smart and beautiful, you deserve to be spoiled. I’m going to spoil you, ruin you for anything or anyone else,” I told him with soft kisses to the abused spot on his thigh. He keened at the words, something I never thought I’d live to see the day, but I’ll be damned now if I didn’t make this man fall apart underneath me every day for the rest of our lives after seeing it. In a matter of seconds, I had my fingers slathered with lube and was teasing Itachi’s tight ring of muscles, his hand _really_ tugging at my hair now, making me rock my hips at the stemming pleasure. I hadn’t even noticed when he had tangled his fingers there again.

“Hurry, please,” Itachi muttered. The full-body flush he sported was attractive and all the marks I’d left on him made my erection throb. I slid a finger into him and relished in the long length of his neck he exposed at the action, his lips parting prettily in a silent moan.

“You’ll take everything I give you Itachi and you’ll take it how I give it to you too,” I told him and he nodded in a few jerky movements.

“I want to cherish and take care of you. I want to see you fall apart because of how good I make you feel, I want to see you go crazy with it,” I continued, pressing kisses to the length and tip of his erection as I spoke, my fingers stroking his insides and stretched him open slowly. Feeling a firm spot inside I circled it with my finger curiously and Itachi cried out, muffling the sound by biting his lip harshly. His body jerked as I rubbed that spot, his legs trying to squeeze together even as he started to rock back onto my fingers, his hips stuttering as he was torn between seeking the sensation of my fingers ghosting along the spot and seeking the heat of my mouth.

A sharp look at the other had him stilling with a soft whine, his hands coming to cover his face. Before I could say or do anything to amend that action, he yanked them away from his face, instead, moving to tangle and tug on his hair, his eyes seeking my own for approval. I groaned and pressed his erection down my throat in one movement as a reward, the wet, messy sounds loud even over our sounds of pleasure. He should stay just like this, eyes locked on me always. He struggled to stay still but I overlooked the small rolling of his hips as he continued to call my name reverently.

Sliding in a third finger I pressed down firmly this time on that spot and the whimper it drew from the other wasn’t enough, especially as he bit his lip again to try and silence himself. Swiftly pulling off of his erection, I lunged for his lips plunging my tongue into his mouth and claiming every inch of the space I could, filling him with _our_ taste.

“These lips are for **me** to bite,” I told him in a voice I didn’t recognize. I had no idea I could lose myself like this. I didn’t know I could love someone like _this_.

“Yes, yours, all yours,” Itachi assured, his arms coming to wrap around my shoulders, trapping me to his body. He sealed our lips together and didn’t fight me for control as he rocked back harder onto my fingers.

“Please Kashi, babe please,” he pleaded against the hard thrusts of my fingers, the jostling of the man under me was making me leak, smearing a joint mess along Itachi’s stomach. I buried my nose in the space just behind his ear, breathing in the scent that sent a jolt to my cock and caused the other to shudder. Pulling my fingers out I looked down at him, waiting until he calmed a bit and looked up into my eyes.

“How do you want it, baby? Tell me, I’ll give it to you,” I told him, impatience seeping into my tone.

“Tell me, I’ll give you anything you want. I’ll give you everything,” I told him in between kisses that I couldn’t stop for the life of me. I wanted to shower him in all my love, so he’ll never want for or doubt his place in my heart.

“Like this, I want to see you. I want all of you Kakashi, just like this,” he spoke clearly in a soft and breathless voice. His hands came to frame my face and brought our lips together once again.

This kiss was slow and sweet and full of passion as I grabbed the bottle of lube again, coating myself generously with firm, fast strokes making me moan into the brunet’s mouth. Itachi pulled away from the kiss and rested my forehead against his own when he felt the tip of my erection press against him. Planting short, soft kisses to his parted lips I told him to relax and breathe, the other nodding, and I pushed in smoothly, a slow pace not faltering until we connected fully. Itachi cried out, tears unbiddenly coming to his eyes at the unfamiliar stretch.

Moving one of my hands from supporting my weight, I cupped the side of his neck, tilting the other so he could breathe easier, his puffing breaths brushing against my lips. When grey eyes opened again to look at me I kissed him again, non-hurried and reassuring. His arms came around my neck to hold me there once again and his legs wrapped around my hips.

“Come on then Kashi,” the other said once he’d gathered himself enough. That was what snapped my resolve to go slowly. The other knew exactly what to do to drive me crazy.

The pace I started was fast and deep, Itachi crying out as I didn’t hold anything back. His moans filled the air and I relished the sting of his nails marking my back. My heart pounded hard in my chest, harder than during any mission. The satisfaction of having this man under me and drowning in pleasure was too much. My unoccupied hand gripped onto the other man’s hip and I pulled the other along with me. I was kneeling on both my knees with Itachi wrapped around me, the angle much deeper than before.

I felt his nails dig harder into my back and the slight pain melted with the pleasure, the two blending and meshing together until I couldn’t tell which was which. The moan that left me was deep and rattled through both our chests. I pumped into Itachi deep and hard, the other having no choice but to bounce on my cock as he had no leverage to help with the pace. The other was truly only capable of taking what I gave him and did he take everything beautifully.

“So good baby, you’re so good. Look at you, full of my cock and you love it,” I muttered darkly, tone full of lust and lost in desire.

“Yes, love it! Please so close, so- ah!” the other cut off as I struck that firm spot again. The firm bundle felt good against the tip of my cock and I stroked over it again and again, my pace getting faster and stronger even with the shallower thrusts. I pulled Itachi down by his hips to meet every thrust I gave, angling him perfectly to press against that pleasurable spot every _single_ time. I could feel Itachi tensing, the slick heat wrapped around me clenching and releasing in intervals that caused me to latch onto the other’s neck. I felt his moans vibrate against my lips, which were sucking another dark spot into his skin, in an irregular interval compared to the strong, fast pounding of his pulse. I felt the building arousal starting to peak but I refused to tumble over the edge without fully enjoying Itachi’s orgasm.

“Cum baby, come on, let it out,” I muttered against his pulse point, sucking on the sensitive skin there. I slid my hand from his hip to his stretched hole, my fingers parting around my cock that didn’t stop plunging into Itachi for a second. Pressing my fingers around the sensitive flesh of his rim the other moaned my name loudly and tensed throughout his whole body, his orgasm tearing through him. He writhed in my grip, the pleasure too much as one of the stubborn tears that had been clinging to his lashes broke free and ran its course down his face.

He looked beautiful with his lips swollen, red, and parted as he cried out with his eyes shut tight and glistening with tears of pleasure, with the marks that **_I_** left littering his body and with his hole filled with my cock. I slowed my pace a bit but continued to trust with strong, deep strokes Itachi’s clenching insides almost bringing me to the end.

Itachi grabbed my face and kissed me deeply, his breathing coming in harsh pants and the other pulled away enough to mutter a few words.

“So good Kakashi, love you. I love you, I love yo-” he said over and over and it brought my climax crashing over me. Itachi’s legs tightened around me as I released everything inside of him, my hips stuttering to a stop and a long moan leaving me. Itachi moaned as well, his fingers coming to stroke gently in my hair once we’d both calmed down, our breath slowing down.

I opened my eyes to see the other watching me with the same expression I’d seen him send my way many times. One that I recognized now as adoration and total love. I kissed him again softly before lifting myself off of him and getting up to get a washcloth to clean us off. Returning to the bedroom I stopped in the doorway to the sight of Itachi still splayed out in the bed, the other having buried his face in the pillow. He might’ve sensed my gaze as he turned lazily back toward me and smiled a bit shyly, the light flush creeping up his neck giving him away.

“What are you getting shy about now, hm?” I asked teasingly as I came closer to him again. Leaning over him I wiped down his body, starting from his neck and slowly working my way down, when I came to his groin, it was already showing interest again. I cocked an eyebrow and the corner of my lips pulled in a small smirk as I asked,

“I’m cleaning you off and you’re ready to get dirty again Itachi?”

The other’s response was to spread his legs wide again, my cum dribbling out of his hole at the new position. My eyes were drawn to the sight and his fingers came to rub around his rim in an echo of what I’d done just earlier. My cock, which was already interested while cleaning Itachi off, filled much faster at the sight of my seed leaking out of the other. If I could fuck him full of my sperm and make another child with him I could.

“You said something about the next time Sir. I think it’s my turn,” the cheeky brat said. I abandoned the cloth and pounced on him again.

It didn’t seem we’d be leaving the bed for the rest of the night and I wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
